She's an angel wielding a scythe, you don't mess with her
Introduction:
Sigarda, Host of Herons is one of the 3 multi-coloured angels introduced in Avacyn Restored. Her set of abilities make her very versatile for different deck builds.
This primer will show you how to play her as a midrange enchantress. For a deck list to play Voltron, or big creature swarm, look in the Strategy section of this primer or in my signiture.
Gabriel Angelfire: This guy was originally going to head this deck, however his cmc and his ability restriction is what keeps him from being great
Gaddock Teeg: another possible candidate for the deck, but the deck would need some modifications to build around him
Jasmine Boreal: The original selesnya voltron general, pushed aside by Sigarda, Jasmine's wrinkles are beginning to show
Karametra, God of the Harvests: Although Karametra is an Enchantment Creature with a subtype god (seriously who wouldn't like to play god >.<) her ability is more suited for a creature heavy build.
Kei Takahashi: He does less than Emmara ... he sits lower than Emmara
Krond the Dawn-Clad: The alternative to Sigarda, would be her replacement if I ever get bored with her, however his casting cost is hard to achieve without mana ramp or fixing
Lady Caleria: Too high of a cmc for an ability that isn’t that useful. Sure she can do combat tricks but overall, she is weak
Lord Magnus: high cmc for a weak body, his ability is too narrow to be of help.
Rhys the Redeemed: Another potential commander, doubling the angels that you have can quickly end the game. Be careful about over-extending
Saffi Eriksdotter: Saffi screams combo and this deck isn’t about combo
I picked up Sigarda when she first came out because at the time I was planing on making a deck that wasn't Teeg hate bear, Rhys tokens galore, Saffi combo, or Sisay good stuff toolbox. I was planning on a Gabriel Angelfire from deck but I felt that his mana cost was too high for what he brought to the table. After the first version of the deck, I found that I didn't really have a lot of card draw and the right equipment to make the deck into a equipment deck. Changing the deck to hybrid helped with the problem but some of the equipments and the auras didn't work together. I made the decision to go full enchantress after my friend decided to make a legacy enchantress deck and got more cards than he needed.
Academy Rector - a great enchantment fetcher and circumnavigates Teeg's 3 or less restriction.
Auratog - a little creature with potential to get big temporarily. This creature synergizes with rancor and any enchantress for lots of card draw. Also has the added bonus of saving enchantments that are about to be exiled.
Eidolon of Blossoms - Enchantress #5 can be tutored by creature and enchantment tutors, triggers on itself, and has power as well. The only downside may be the GG casting cost which isnt that much of a problem anyways
Gaddock Teeg - stops wrath but gets hated. Its more of a silver bullet if someone is going rampant with big cmc spells
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - One activation puts people on a 3 turn clock. Two activations put people on a 2 turn clock. Not to mention the filtering that the card has with the second ability. the 100 life is nothing to scoff at, although it probably should only be activated only if the enemy if playing a heavy aggro deck.
Enchantments
Abundance - synergizes with sylvan library to "draw" 3 cards a turn. Also goes well with enchantresses to draw more fuel.
Aura of Silence - taxes for your opponents and spot removal if something threatening shows up
Aura Shards - if Sigil of the Empty Throne is out then watch enchantment also destroys an artifact or enchantment, be careful as some people may feel threatened and try to focus you
Awakening Zone - allows for a turn for Sigarda and continues to ramp. A good card and might replace a ramp spell, however it doesn't colour fix and doesn't impact immediately. However, the tokens can carry auras, especially rancor (a continuous stream of 2/1s never looked so amusing)
City of solitude - if this resolves, this card stops control decks till they can find an answer. The downside is that it affects everyone including yourself so make sure that you are in a position that you can protect yourself.
Exploration - although a little slower than burgeoning, it is better mid and late game when people are not hitting their land drops
Mirari's Wake - doubles your mana for more casting sprees
Moat - stops most swarms in their path (if you don't have one or aren't rolling in money then get magus of the moat, the only downside is that it’s a creature)
Nylea, God of the Hunt - it provides the much needed trample that Sigarda lacks and puts her up to 7 power if I keep the mana open. I list Nylea as an enchantment because I dont think that I would keep her as a creature on the field. However her creature supertype allows her to get around teeg
Oblivion Ring - helps remove some pesky enchantments or artifacts. If using this on creatures, be careful if there is a potential for board wipe as you might have saved their creature
Riftstone Portal - this card is harder to get online cause its unlikely to get blown up and when its in the yard, its likely to get removed. If you take this out replace ghost quarter with tectonic edge
Other Cards to Consider (please read this before you suggest a card)
Silver Bullets: (this deck already runs lots of them so there aren't that many here)
MLD - my deck relies heavily on lands and doesn't have a way of bringing lands back from the grave. If you do include mld for your deck be sure to include cards like crucible or loam package
Karmic justice - I haven't justified it being in the deck but I will put it in if my meta starts packing more destroy enchantment stuff
Titania's Song - good silver bullet to artifact heavy decks be wary of large artifacts like forge and lattice becoming problematic beat sticks
Aven Mindcensor - if ramp and tutoring runs rampant in your meta consider using this card to stop them from getting out of hand (Maybe remove the Quasali Pridemage or the Silent Arbiter)
Spirit of the Labyrinth - dicks blue decks and the massive card draws and also prevents nekusaur from killing you with wheels
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Rule of law on a stick. personally rule of law would probably be better but this allows for creature tutors to also get it as well. If you are running this or rule of law, be careful of what you put down on the board as you don't wanna waste your 1 spell per turn.
Ugin's Nexus - Stops time magic. Can be destroyed for an extra turn when in a pinch.
Nomad Mythmaker/Dowsing Shaman - allows for enchantment recursion, more specifically it’s for auras that were dropped off Sigarda
Krond the dawn-clad - the reason that he isn't commander or part of the 99 is his casting cost. Mana fixing for him was a pain in the rear without much mana fixing cards in the deck
Cmc 4+ auras and some enchantments - Teeg shuts them down and I'm not rectoring them when I have other cards to rector. Bear umbra gets through though cause it untaps lands, which allows me to go for another enchantress fueled casting spree
Mana rocks - I could use them but if I have stony silence or null rod then they become expensive paper weights which can't even give me draws off an enchantress
Solemn Simulacrum or any etb creatures - torpor orb partially it, but the main problem is no recursion or blinks except for Flickerform which I'm most likely to enchant Sigarda with.
Greater auramancy - it used to be in the deck until it started to get in the way of enchanting Sigarda after the first aura. (Before you say "but azn can't you play the auramancy after you are finished enchanting", I say this, if she dies to board wipe then you have to get rid of it before you start can go aura crazy again, which is a waste of a spell or ability.)
Blind Obedience - since most of your cards are on a low curve, you will have mana to spare, so you can consider using this card to keep yourself topped up and slowly drain your enemies for an easier kill. Also helps against maelstrom wanderer decks and other decks which have hasty creatures and the immediate use of mana rocks
vernal equinox/vedalken orrey - equinox is a great card but the downside is that any player can use it. you can consider using vedalken orrey if you want the flash. The reason i don't use either is I tutor for city of solitude constantly
Vow of Wildness - trample and a big boost, also doubles as pseudo pacifism (it can replace armadillo cloak or unflinching courage)
oracle of mul daya - this card allows you to play the top card off your library if it’s a land. Allows you to draw more important stuff.
cataclysm - gets around indestructible board states and allows Sigarda more breathing room if she was behind. Add if no one else is playing voltron. Be sure to float lotsa mana before casting (preferably have replenish in hand)
magus of the moat - poor man's moat, however is not recovered with enchantment recursion spells.
mirri's guile - poor man's replacement for sylvan library.
Primeval Bounty - this card is good if you have Sigarda on the field, but this doesn’t synergize with flickerform as Sigarda will lose her counters, still worth considering though, as it powers Sigarda really fast
Ajani's Chosen - Sigil of the empty throne outshines this card as sigil creates flying tokens. if you are somehow unable to find a sigil then consider using this, otherwise stick with sigil.
Burgeoning - it makes sure that you can empty your hand of lands but late game people dont really drop that many lands so i prefer exploration.
Open the Vaults - mass enchantment recovery. Be careful when playing against mirror match up or artifact heavy decks like sharuum
Act of Authority - useful in certain situations but can backfire horribly (need to check ruling of sacing in response)
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact meaning stony silence says "no".
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function except to make serra sanctum tap for loads
Nostalgic Dreams - a one sided replacement for Open the vaults. use late game by pitching lands
Stonecloaker - spot grave removal and can protect Sigarda in a pinch
Testing:
Ajani Steadfast - replaces Ajani the mentor if you dont have him. Better if you are going the token route and are also using another walker.
Skybind - on its own it can make enchantments costs one less (exile a land that was tapped and it ETB untapped). Combined with Auratog and Rancor though, can make make your opponent's defenses nonexistant. Consider running vernal equinox or vedalken orrey to make fun times (if you do add these consider removing city of solitude which shuts them down).
Your best friend against counters and instants
Strategy: Early Game:
During the early game you have several things you wanna do. Drop your lands ASAP, get at least one enchantress online, and start dropping non-aura enchantments to slow down the board and draw more cards of enchantress triggers. At around turn 4-6 you should be looking for a chance to play Sigarda without getting her destroyed. Ideally you would have played Cavern of Souls calling Angels to make sure that Sigarda is safe from counter spells, but if you didn’t draw cavern or any other card to prevent counters, then make sure that the blue deck is either tapped out or already used a counter spell on something else.
Mid Game:
If you have Sigarda on the field then start enchanting her and going to town on your opponents. If she is in the command zone then cast her asapl and start enchanting here. If she is in your deck, you have two options. Either you go with an alternate wincon or you hope to draw a tutor. Hopefully by now you have at least one enchantress on the board and are starting to slow down the game with your enchantments and artifacts.
Late Game:
If you have had good draws and plays, Sigarda should be able to one or two shot people and the board should have turned on you try to take you out. Of that is the case, then congratulations, you are playing the deck correctly. If you have been set back enough times to be seen as a non threat then congratulations you are now in a position to "pull the rug from under their feet". Try to get an enchantress on the field and play some harmless enchantment and mass up your lands. When you feel you have enough lands play as many stall/lock cards as possible, play a wincon and try to kill one person (preferably the person who is drawing a lot of cards and isn't making plays. You can be sure they are up to something). If you can take down at least one person then try to take down more until they finally kill you.
How do you want to win?
Dropping Sigarda and taking your opponents on the pain train is the main strategy.
How do you keep Sigarda alive?
With her hexproof and cannot be sacced clause, there are still things left that can kill Sigarda which are wraths, damage, -1/-1 counters. For the first two you have two options, Shield of the Oversoul and Flickerform. For -1/-1 counters, if they are prevalent in your meta then consider using Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Flickerform also removes the -1/-1 counters but the 2WW cost may be a high cost to pay if the counters are applied constantly. Although it’s not killing, Tucking or bouncing is a problem that Sigarda will face as she is a high priority target once she shows herself. Flickerform is a way to deal with it but you need the mana open.
What happens if Sigarda gets tucked?
Well then you have several ways to win without Sigarda, Sigil of the Empty Throne massing lots of angels, Auratog fed with several enchantments (has a great synergy with Rancor), Kor Spiritdancer with several auras packs a nice punch.
Synergies:
- enchantress + enchantments = draw engine
- enchantress + abundance = your choice of land or non-land whenever you play an enchantment
- sylvan library + abundance = reveal cards until you have any three combination of land and non-land
- Auratog + rancor = G: Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- Auratog + rancor + enchantress = G: Draw a card, Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- privileged position + sterling grove = your non-enchantments have hexproof and enchantments have shroud
Opening hand:
In your opening hand, you want 2-3 lands and the rest of the cards should be from 1-3 cmc. (It would also be nice to either have an enchantress in hand or a way to tutor for one)
As mentioned in the introduction, Sigarda is a versatile commander because of her range of abilities as well as her CMC and P/W. A decklist for Voltron can be found here and a decklist for swarm can be found here
January 26, 2014
Thoughts on Born of the Gods
Added Spirit of the Labyrinth to silver bullets
October 19, 2013
Thoughts Commander 2013
Added cards to "cards to consider"
September 17, 2013
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
Removed from testing list: Gaea's Touch - it really wasn't doing to well for me Mana Reflection - it was a winmore card
Added to testing list:
Nylea, God of the Hunt - trample and a buff to make Sigarda a 3 turn clock makes Nylea a card worthy of using, however more testing must be done before I add it in.
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact.
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function
Gift of Immortality - says f u to board wipes
August 26, 2013
Fixed some minor problems in the thread and added mld to cards to consider
July 8, 2013
- Rites of Flourishing - its symetrical ability was the biggest problem for me. card draw wasn't really affected because i had enchantresses and the extra lands were substituted with eldrazi mana
+ Awakening Zone - provides a body for rancor as well as mana for a turn 4 sigarda if dropped turn 3
- Burgeoning - great early game when everyone is dropping lands but slows late game. moved to cards to consider
+ Exploration - great throughout the game regardless of whether people drop lands or not
June 19, 2013
Got Approved ^.^ happy dance
added Testing list
Added Titania's song to cards to consider list
May 22, 2013
Added stuff to Strategy, and Why play this commander
Added Primeval Bounty and Ajani's Chosen to Cards to consider
April 20, 2013
+ Unflinching Courage (didn't have that many voltron generals in my meta so I'd rather tag something with lifelink so I can gain some life back)
- Vow of Wildness
We have now entered the lovecraftian horror genre with tentacles and mind melting monstrosities everywhere. With the fight against the eldrazi reaching its peak and "conclusion", Sigarda brings some upgrades which are helpful. Escalate as a mechanic is useful modal spell and in late game using all the modes becomes easier. Meld on the other hand reminds me of Yugioh and although its flavorful, its not my cup of tea.
Gisela, the Broken Blade - while not really strong on her own, melded with bruna, she become a power house of a card
Brisela, Voice of Nightmares - While the name just sounds rediculous (i think that Gisuna would have sounded better), the meld of Gisela and Bruna is a the stuff of nightmares for Sigarda decks which try to play around teeg.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Not too strong on her own, Thalia gets much stronger when paired with abilities like stasis, and other abilities which cause your opponents to skill the untap step
Ishkanah, Grafwidow - our first legendary spider, it isn't exactly the strongest but it will do well to increase other people's fear of spiders.
Gisa and Geralf - another alternative if you didn't want to have Grimgrin, or Dralnu to head a zombie deck.
Decimator of the Provinces - kinda sad that this says cast instead of etb otherwise it would be a definite card for maeyel.
Soul Separator - a fun card for decks which don't really reanimate their key creatures.
Shadows over Innistrad
Shadows over Innistrad sees the return of zombies, werewolves and vampires (Oh My!). It has also bring angels and their hosts. While there are cards which help Sigarda, this set still focuses much on the eldrazi and their playstyles which doesn't really play nicely with Sigarda.
Legendaries in the set:
Archangel Avacyn - good as commander or as part of the 99 to protect creature combos. Her flip is slightly less useful but can clear out some utility creatures when you don't want to boardwipe
Olivia, Mobilized for War - I actually want to see if an Olivia deck is actually viable since you can recur discarded stuff since you are playing black. Red takes more of a backseat roll and provides utility.
Sigarda, Heron's Grace - while she isnt as strong as sigarda 1.0, Sigarda 2.0 is still very strong in her own niche deck.
The Gitrog Monster - either used as the commander or as part of the 99, crucible of worlds is hilariously strong with gitfrog. I have him in Meren as an additional draw outlet and land drop.
Other interesting cards:
Always Watching - Although it only provides +1/+1, the global vigilance is extremely valuable
Declaration in Stone - a two edged sword which can either win you games or hilariously lose them.
Cryptolith Rite - mana production for token decks as if they needed more (crossroads with ghave?)
Anguished Unmaking - looses the ability to hit lands but gets instant speed
Sorin, Grim Nemesis - The first ability is annoying enough and can win games
Arlinn Kord - her abilities are useful and well rounded
Nahiri, the Harbinger - another great walker (kinda wished that she didn't do what she did in the story though)
Westvale Abbey - the transformed creature is mildly hard to get rid of for certain decks
Commander 2015
Commander sets always have me excited to see what gets introduced to shake up the commander worlds. Although the selesnya wasn't represented this year I'm sure that when it does come out it will be lovely.
Legendaries in the set:
Anya, Merciless Angel - I feel that Anya is actually isnt that good. When a player has left than half, sure Anya can 3 shot them but the problem is you have to get them down to less than half.
Arjun, the Shifting Flame - have you ever wanted a personal teferi's puzzle box? well look no further. Great if you have abilities which trigger when you draw cards (archmage ascension) but otherwise Nekusar players are laughing madly.
Daxos the Returned - if this is the enchantment commander of the the duo colour sets then I am very sad. Making big creatures is nice but its not that useful for w/b outside of some niche situations.
Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - interesting card with a very hard to fufill in r/w otherwise this card is a monster.
Karlov of the Ghost Council - another card that had me super excited when I saw it. although it doesnt have the protection that council 1.0 or 2.0 had, the fact that its easy to gain life in w/b makes his removal ability super scary.
Kaseto, Orochi Archmage - i think that this card could be pretty fun in a u/g deck as a finisher, although evasion generally isn't needed as you can just overrun most other decks
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - one of the strongest recoursion commanders in the game currently
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - yet another experience gaining ability which I don't really like even though I understand where they are coming from. Hilarious in u/r chaos though.
The abilities in this set were interesting but still underwhelming. Of all the abilities only surge stood out for me.
Legendaries in the set:
General Tazri - Good ally commander as it tutor and buffs your allies
Linvala, the Preserver - oh Linvala how you have fallen from grace. Once known as the terror of activated abilities you are now pretty but not that good.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - really strong against graveyard recoursion decks. the first part of the ability is already good enough to make a deck out of. the token and consumption ability is just added bonus.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - great life gain ability and removal ability. definitely worth building around
Jori En, Ruin Diver - a monster in 1v1 as you can counter then use a cantrip/burn spell and get lots of value
Kozilek, the Great Distortion - kozilek 1.0 I feel is better. The counter ability is interesting but commander has too high of a cmc variance in multiplayer matches.
Matter Reshaper - suprisingly useful in most decks which can generate the colourless mana
Wastes - colourless players rejoiced with the inclusion of wastes
Battle for Zendikar
While the set has interesting mechanics it doesn't do much to help Sigarda. Awaken and Converge both were underwhelming when I first saw it and now when I revisit the set.
Legendaries in the set:
Drana, Liberator of Malakir - Interesting card but black isnt really known for its creature swarms. She can be made as a voltron but mono black has many better voltron commanders.
Zada, Hedron Grinder - with an ability similar to ink treader nephilim, this guy is better as part of a shenanigan deck than being at the helm.
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper - great if you can protect the land thats animated otherwise you are asking people to use boardwipes.
Omnath, Locus of Rage - I saw this in a 5c elemental deck and it was a hilarious finisher. The landfall ability and bolt ability are almost always useful
Ob Nixilis Reignited - a good walker for what he does all his abilities are relavent, however his last ability is only really punishing against decks which draw alot of cards or if you are playing Nekusar.
Kiora, Master of the Depths - great for most ug decks as you almost always want to untap stuff, the second ability is great searching and the graveyard is almost always a second hand. Third ability is still useful as removal.
Catacomb Sifter - great for graveyard decks to help you filter
Sanctum of Ugin - artifact decks rejoice as you have another tutor
Oblivion Sower - suprisingly strong if you are able to constantly cast this card over and over. generates massive land advantage
Archive
Origins
Oh man for the last core set Wizards pulled all the stops for Origins. It makes me sad that this set felt more Theros than the entire theros block. Otherwise it is a great set with many powerful cards and interesting mechanics (Renown and Spell Mastery).
Legendaries in the set:
Alhammarret, High Arbiter - Nevermore on a stick ... it has its uses but I personally dont really like it that much.
Hixus, Prison Warden - An interesting ability on paper, but when you remember that most attacks in this game are lethal and the ones that aren't generally arent even worth removing, Hixus becomes alot less effective.
Kothophed, Soul Hoarder - A great flavorful ability. Destroying others to gain knowledge at the price of your soul. Just be wary when you boardwipe that the enemy doesnt randomly spawn an army out of nowhere with cards like Ant Queen.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar - Siege-gang commander for artifacts. Blink shinanegans will be hilarious with them.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh/Chandra, Roaring Flame - one of the weaker walkers in a format of 40 life, however do not underestimate the 2 damage as it is great for removing utility creatures. Easy to flip by attack then cast a spell and then tap.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros/Gideon, Battle-Forged - Great for mono white aggro as the commander or as part of the 99. No large mana investment needed and both his creature and walker abilities are beautiful.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace, Telepath Unbound - looting on the creature side and utility on the walker side. The only gripe I have with this card is the -2/0 for one creature only. Its not much to gripe about but its still something
Liliana, Heretical Healer/Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - The strongest walker of the 5 in this format. All abilities are relevant and useful throughout the game. She is playable as part of the 99 or as the commander (personally prefer her as commander in order to load her up fast)
Nissa, Vastwood Seer/Nissa, Sage Animist - Great card advantage and ramp. The 4/4 Legendary is iffy since it doesnt have any tagged on abilities. Her third ability is great for setting up boardwipes.
Other interesting cards:
Archangel of Tithes - Ghostly prison which works on the offensive side as well. Useful against swarm strategies and against people who like to tap out.
Relic Seeker - Nicknamed "stone-forge lite", this card will be interesting to see in both commander as well as modern as a budget replacement of SfM
Starfield of Nyx - OH BABY ENCHANTMENT RECURSION!!! ... oh wait it makes all my non auras weak to removal ... well dam ... (its a great card but I feel that the opalescence portion of the card is just too overbearing)
Tragic Arrogance - A great replacement for Cataclysm if your playgroup doesnt like the LD portion. It is in someways better than cataclysm as you get to choose what they keep.
Day's Undoing - Interesting card ... give it flash and do some hilarious things to stop your opponents from doing EOT Shinanigans
Disciple of the Ring - great for decks which don't have a way of recycling graveyard otherwise its really iffy as the graveyard is basically a second hand.
Jace's Sanctum - great for control decks and a special favorite for my Talrand deck to smooth out my draws.
Soul Blade Djinn - Spell heavy decks may be able to use this as a win condition. Otherwise just it might just show up in Talrand decks.
Talent of the Telepath - Whats better than using your oppenent's Tooth and Nail? How about using 2 Tooth and Nails? (unfortunately the spells arent entwined so it basically is 4 mana for an TaN Entwined)
Thopter Spy Network - A 4 mana Bitterblossom with tagged on abilities and no downsides ... I know that its 4 cmc but in a game which can drag on for many turns this card is hilariously strong at clogging up the board. (fun fact: the longest game i have ever played was 3 hours long and only ended because the janitor needed to clean the room)
Dark Dabbling - Great for cards like Day of Judgement or cards which you can regen through (also nets you a card as well).
Dark Petition - pseudo demonic tutor isnt that bad in a format which 5 mana in black is easily achievable.
Demonic pact - hilarious card to Donate to your enemy once you are done using it.
Erebos's Titan - If only it said an opponent instead of your opponents this card would be so much crazier. But as it stands, the titan can be used as a discard outlet/fodder.
Graveblade Marauder - Self mill has another wincon? This card is great ... now if only it had some somber or witty flavour text.
Infinite Obliteration - great if you know what your opponent has, otherwise its a crap shoot and a way to look at what they are running in their deck.
Tainted Remedy - oh look at all the life that you are gaining, it would be a shame if someone were to make you lose that much instead (also the card art is beautiful and very story driven)
Chandra's Ignition - note that the card doesn't kill the creature it targets ... works great with deathtouch or lifelink
Flameshadow Conjouring - great for those Riku decks if they didnt have enough copy abilities
Shivan Dragon - 10/10 hands down the best card ever, I even traded my bayou, and volcanic island for it ... T.T I still regret making that decision to this very day ...
Animist's Awakening - HI HO LANDFALL!!! great if you have spare mana to dump.
Evolutionary Leap - Great for creature light decks which run token generators and have impactful big creatures (use in a 5cc deck with one copy of progenitus)
Herald of the Pantheon - I feel like this set was more Theros than the entire Theros block combined ... makes me sad that this creature isn't an enchantment as well
Managorger Hydra - gets real big, real quick. Fortunately it lacks protection.
Nissa's Revelation - Great for decks like Mayael or the Green good stuff.
The set has many cards which will be interesting to see in commander. Formidable, megamorph, bolster are interesting mechanics with formidable probably being the only mechanic which may impact EDH the most in the form of Shaman of Forgotten Ways
Legendaries in the set:
Humans: Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit - really interesting card i would love to see a deck which is able to properly use her ability but the fact that it is bolster 1 rather than 1 counter on target creature makes me a little sad (bolster 2 would have made it so much stronger). Sidisi, Undead Vizier - a great commander and has the potential to become very strong due to the fact that black can generate lots of bodies for sidisi to explot and ways to kill her off and bring her back. aven mindcensor, torpor orb, hushwing gryph, and leonin arbiter are your friends in this match up. Surrak the Hunt Caller - compared to the other version, this surrak seems underwhelming as xenegod can do his job better. Zurgo Bellstriker - oh how low you have fallen zurgo the card fits the character but thats about it not really viable for much.
Dragons: Dragonlord Atarka - great way for clearing the way for your commander 7 mana for 8/8 trample flying with the ability to shoot things on attack is a formidable creature. since hes green, conventional prison cards like vows and such are almost pointless to play since they are quickly removed. your hope is to out race him. Dragonlord Dromoka - Dromoka lends himself/herself to a more control oriented build similar to what gadock teeg would do. replacing cards like armadillo cloak and its counter parts for more silver bullets and possibly more ramp. Overall I feel like dromoka would be better as part of the 99 with someone like teeg at the helm. Dragonlord Kolaghan - a half decent RB commander 6 for a 6/5 haste is nothing to sneeze at and granting your other creatures haste is great as well. the second ability shuts down relentless rats decks and shadowborn apostle decks. Dragonlord Ojutai - great card advantage although the hexproof clause is a little upsetting. fortunately blue and white has many ways to keep it untapped Dragonlord Silumgar - lowest power of the dragonlords but a very strong ability.
FATE REFORGED
Overall this sets mechanic is interesting to say the least. Dash, Manifest and Bolster are all great mechanics but they have little in the way of helping out our deck.
Legendaries in the set:
Humans:
Daghatar the Adamant - not that scary compared to the other GWB commanders. Be more wary of the deck itself rather this card.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest - Heralded as the "fairer" (if there is such a thing) version of rafiq of the many, Shu Yun requires alot of mana to do his thing. He has the potential to become dangerous very fast. While losing green means that there are some buffs that Shu Yun is losing, red has enough support and buffs to dampen the blow. Be wary of MLD and chaos abilities.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - Overall, this card is better suited for 60 card whether it be in modern where people are trying figure out how to abuse it with grave troll, or in standard where it is in an interesting spot right now. Delve is a decent although not needed ability as i never like to get rid of the graveyard as it is basically a second hand for you especially since you are playing black. The second ability is what makes Tasigur borderline playable as it allows you to fill your yard/hand.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - Potentially a very scary commander. The deck can go different routes. whether it be ETB/LTB shenanigans with cards like Gray merchant of asphodel, or the on hit effects like master of cruelties.
Yasova Dragonclaw - Yasova's ability has potential to do to crazy things. However it is better to buff her power up by at least 3-4 more points to steal ridiculous things. As there are better commanders in the same colour as her, I would put her in the same catagory as Daghatar
Dragons: (overall these guys are better in a dragon tribal deck with the exception of one or two)
Atarka, World Render - very dangerous as a commander and in dragon tribal decks. Dueling grounds + chump blockers is your best line of defense if you cant remove him.
Dromoka, the Eternal - I feel that this card is kind of lack luster. While 3 unblocked attacks does kill a player, the condition is that Dromoka must be the lowest toughness on your field.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury - Dash is hilarious. If you can find a way to reduce costs to cast creatures, you have the potential to have 5 dmg in the air for 2 mana per turn. The scary part of Kolaghan is the "Whenever a dragon" so this isn't restricted to just Kolaghan himself. With conspiracy in his colours, a Goblin token army becomes very scary.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter - In a dragon tribal deck this ability also has the potential to be game ending as you can tap down blocking creatures when you alpha strike a player. Otherwise you tap down annoying permanents with need to untap.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death - Kills all of the defending player's creatures if you have enough creatures attacking. If you don't have a heavy dragon count it is only useful against tokens (screw Freyalise druid tokens)
Cards I'm considering for the deck:
Abzan Runemark - Vigilance is nice but it isnt required.
Sage's Reverie - I feel like this is more of a win more card. If I can draw a large amount of cards off reverie, then I should be in a position that I am killing people. Eidolon of countless battles might be better here if you want a buff
Interesting cards and other things to look out for:
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - Mono brown decks are gonna have a hayday with this card ... there isn't much you can do to stop this other that hoping that Teeg comes down fast enough that he can't be cast. Pithing needle is another card you can consider.
Dragonscale General - Makes things big fast in weenie decks. hopefully they are tapping their creatures through attacking meaning that dueling grounds should be the answer, however if cards like Catapult Master is what they are using to tap their creatures, better have removal ready.
Monastary Mentor - Spell Slinging decks will love this card.
Soulfire Grand Master - this card is ridiculous. I'm not sure if it will be banned or not but im leaning more to the side of yes as it makes time magic too strong.
Sieges - The sieges are decent although not all of them are that strong. I like Monastary siege the best although I can't use it though.
Archfiend of Depravity - Brutal card against most decks but not a problem for Sigarda
Ghastly Conscription - Combine this with cards which flicker for fun results.
Arcbond - add pariah/guilty conscience on an indestructible creature and you can kill all other players the moment the creature takes damage.
Flamerush Rider - it has the potential to abuse etb and ltb abilities, unfortunately it has to attack so its life might be shortlived
Shaman of the Great Hunt - not exactly something that Animar can abuse however it has potential for more interesting results in riku and maelstrom wanderer.
Shamanic Revelation - as if token decks needed more help getting pieces they needed ... this card is accelerant to decks like elfball and other token regurgitation decks.
Harsh Sustenance - 3 mana wincon for ghave
Commander 2014
Overall the Commander 2014 set is pretty fun. New commanders and new cards for both commander and for other formats as well. Cards that Sigarda will be interested in are song of the dryad and containment priest. If walkers are taking over your meta consider using pithing needle and nevermore
New legends in the set: Nahiri, the Lithomancer – overall this commander is pretty solid. The abilities lend itself to a token swarm however most equipment decks are about the voltron. I guess that the equipment is more along the lines for Kemba with lots of random equipment and then throwing tokens at people. The ulti on her isn’t that special since the stoneforged blade can be exiled.
Jazal Goldmane – Kind of like a white overrun however he doesn’t give trample meaning that your tokens can get chumped all day long. Good as part of the 99 but I wouldn’t play him as the commander.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage – a really walker card which reflects the character from the story. Although Teferi is unlikely to get to the magical 10 outside of a deck which is dedicated to getting him out there, his other abilities are ok. Since blue doesn’t have much in the way of ramp, I wouldn’t worry too much about him.
Stitcher Geralf – I personally don’t really like geralf that much even though he really fits into the Innistrad theme. He is useful for exiling eldrazi or dangerous creatures but the fact that he fills up your enemies’ yard is something that you should be wary of.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath – overall a solid black walker even if his first ability is a bit lacking. Decent in a black good stuff deck but is overshadowed by other commanders which do his job better. Good as part of the 99.
Ghoulcaller Gisa – Overall I find her more appealing than that of her brother. Having a sack outlet is always important especially in black.
Daretti, Scrap Savant – A very solid walker for artifacts even though everyone wished his name started with a “S” and ended with “lobad”. Although I wouldn’t have him as the commander over someone like Kurkesh, Daretti still can hold his own. All his abilities synergize really well and his ultimate is pretty crazy with someone like bosh krark-clan iron works.
Feldon of the Third Path – This sad old man finally has a card which shows a bit of his story. At 3 cmc, he does wonderful things with looters, sac outlets and thornbite staff. He can work in an artifact shell as well since a lot of artifacts can be abused with the ETB and LTB trigger. Prepare to see him in decks.
Freyalise, Llanawar’s Fury – By far one of the most known walkers in the set next to Teferi. In a green deck where 5 mana isn’t that hard to achieve, Freyalise has a whole suite of abilities which tailor to a green decks needs. Inherent ramp, check. Removal for artifacts and enchantments, check. Card draw, check. Overall Freyalise is a very strong walker but get eclipsed by other green commanders such as Azusa, Omnath, and Ezuri. However I would like to see someone build a tribal druid deck around her.
Titania, Protector of Argoth – Another name from the lands of Dominaria, Titania is very strong in landfall decks. Although I could see her command in a lands deck, I feel that she would be better as part of the 99 in maybe a GW deck with the likes of Knight of the Reliquary or in GB with Darkheart of the Woods.
Honorable mentions
White:
Containment Priest – pick them up for cheap if you can as this is the money legacy card of this set. Able to shut down decks like “show and tell”, “reanimator”, and “dredge”, this card deserves atleast a sideboard slot in most decks that have W in it.
Blue:
Reef Worm – with doubling season this card is hilarious. Even on its own it get big quick if you have an outlet.
Black:
infernal offering – of all the offerings which include you and someone else (red offering wtf), this is the ones where symmetry can be avoided.
Necromatic Selection – a wrath combined with a grave betrayal is always nice. The cmc isn’t bad too if you are playing with a big black deck >_O
wake the dead - use this to abuse ETB and LTB triggers.
Red:
Dualcaster Mage – Snappy’s relative. Able to combo out with something like twinflame. Pretty good to have a reverb on a stick.
Scrap Mastery – PRAISE URZA!!! Seriously this card is good and anyone who tells you otherwise needs to play against any decent red artifact deck. Living death for artifacts is very abusable. Krark-clan Ironworks all your things before you scrap mastery to reset a lot of stuff or use it just to take out your opponents board state is too good of an offer to resist.
Volcanic Offering – this card doesn’t have the symmetry that the other offering have. It is completely one sided in your favour. However I feel that its mana cost is still high for what it does.
Green:
Gravesifter – watch out for this card in tribal decks as it can ruin your day.
Siege Behemoth – good for alpha striking through blockers, however it is a nonbo with deathtouch.
Song of the Dryads – in a meta where enchantment removal is light, this can be devastating if put on a commander.
Wave of vitriol – I dislike this card for since it says sac, meaning that it gets around karmic justice. The only way that you can combat it is to have a creeping renaissance or a replenish on hand.
Lands:
Arcane Lighthouse – wizards’ answer to voltron commanders such as uril, sigarda, GoST, and Narset. Prepare to see a lot of these in the first few weeks. Remember to pack land hate like stripmine, tec edge, and ghost quarter to deal with the light house
Artifacts:
Assault Suit – a funny equipment that can be easily abused. Will definitely see play in decks which lack the protection from edicts.
Masterwork of Ingenuity – OH LOOK I NOW HAVE TWO SWORDS OF X AND Y!!! since it’s an equipment, it makes it easier to tutor for.
Khans of Tarkir:
Although the set is very interesting, nothing from the set is able to make it onto the testing list. The green and white colours this set focus more on creatures which help themselves before others or they require +1/+1 counters to help each other. I am happy about the fetchland reprints as windswept heath will make its way into this deck.
Legends in the set: Surrak Dragonclaw has a chance of being the leader of a few RUG decks however I feel that hes better as part of the 99 in Animar and Wanderer decks. There isn’t much to worry about him except for the card in the deck. Anafenza, the Foremost is a beast, shutting down opposing reanimator decks is crazy. The fact that she is only cmc 3 is also a boon not to mention the extra counters that she can hand out and also her big body. Again her abilities don’t worry Sigarda too much as much as how the deck she’s part of is played. Narset, Enlightened Master is also pretty good. Decks that want to abuse Narset will load up on time magic and try to voltron her up and try to kill everyone on the turn that she can attack. If a Narset deck does show up in your area with lots of time magic I recommend using Ugin’s Nexus as well as Eidolon of Rhetoric and/or Rule of Law. Zurgo Helmsmasher is a fun general to build around but can be super deadly. Just stacking the deck with multiple wrath spells will be enough to make sure that he can get through. Try to make sure you have a way of protecting Sigarda before you try to land her onto the field. Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, will probably play similar to The Mimeoplasm. If the deck actually focuses more on the zombie token swarm then a simple dueling grounds or moat will suffice. If the grave reanimator route is taken, ground seal or grafdigger’s cage should be added in to stop those shenanigans.
Other cards to watch in the set are: End hostilities – Wizard’s way of stopping voltron style builds. If this card see play in your area consider adding Karmic Justice and/or Elspeth, Knight-Errant Clever Impersonator – a clone for any nonland thing, including planeswalkers. This card will definitely see play in decks which like to run clones. Bloodsoaked Champion – gravecrawler/reassembling skeleton with more restriction. This card has its uses. Grim Haruspex – This card is a beast. Will see play in Karador decks, and any other decks which loves to sac of its creatures. Note that it has two downsides. Firstly that the creature must be a nontoken (ghave might not play it) and secondly the draw is a must meaning that there is a possibility of decking yourself out. Howl of the Horde – will see play in decks which have a high enough concentration of instant and sorceries. Another bone for Riku decks to use. Sarkhan, the DragonSpeaker – A decent beat stick and removal. However I feel he probably will not be played. Hardened Scale – Doubling Season super lite. It has its uses in a +1/+1 counter based deck and is super low in its cost. Rattleclaw Mystic – definitely a decent card in RUG. Able to mana ramp as well as a one-time burst of mana. See the Unwritten – Green decks new toy, even if it isn’t as strong as G-wave or T&N. It does help in reanimation strategies.
Ascendencies – all the ascendencies have decks which they will be played in as they all have their uses. Azban in decks like Karador for more bodies to pitch, Jeskai in Narset or Zedruu for the untap and the draw, Mardu in Zurgo to provide fodder, Sultai in any bug deck to filter your draws and fill your yard, Temur in RUG decks to add more draw power and the haste (not really needed for wanderer though).
Charms – modes are always nice Deflecting Palm – becareful of this card as it is possible to kill yourself with the reflected damage. Fortunately the damage is from deflecting palm and not the creature.
Sorin – a good final ability but his + ability is slightly lackluster Utter End – will probably see play as it exiles and is instant. I would say that it is weaker than vindicate since it doesn’t hit lands. Villainous Wealth – whoever designed this card is a professional troll. This is a great way for a BUG deck to use its infinite mana. A reverse G-wave ... a great way of killing of people. Altar of the Brood – a great combo piece and is a mini hedron crab. Can’t wait to see it abused in Patron of the moon decks or decks which spam tokens Dragon Throne of Tarkir – An overrun ability. Could be great in certain decks but I feel it gets out classed by cards like Craterhoof. Ugin’s Nexus – Great way of stopping time magic and can be used as time magic in a pinch. Very interesting and is worth picking up a copy or two.
M15:
This set is pretty nice. New Ajani is definitely worth looking at. I feel that most of the auras are over-costed. Compare Marked by Honor to Vow of Duty. For one less you have everything that marked has and even has a pacifism against you ability. Spectral Ward/Prismatic Runeguard or whatever they decide to name. It is a decent card very playable were it not for Teeg. I would personally rather play the 2ww pro creatures though as it gets though artifact and eldrazi creatures. Still worth having just in case they get rid of Teeg. HUSHWING GRYFF is torpor orb #2 and is easier to tutor with out creature tutor spells. Just remember to flash it in in-response to the cast not in response to the creature hitting the battlefield.
Conspiracy:
Wow this set ... so much awesomeness. Not only can I not wait to draft it, I also can't wait to see EDH games with the commanders and variants that use the conspiracies.
Born of the Gods:
Well ... now that BNG has been spoiled I can officially say that theros so far has been a disappointment. Although this was an enchantment block, the interactions that I was hoping for were non existant (ie more enchantress abilities). Even Karamentra disappointed me since her ability triggers on creatures being cast instead of enchantments being cast. However notable mentions do include Hero of Iroas (great if you are running alot of auras and is they are high costing), Spirit of the Labyrinth (great for dicking blue decks and their draw and also denies nekusaur), Eidolon of Countless Battles (this card is similar to auramancer's guise and can be alot stronger if you manage to get Sigil of the Empty Throne or some other token maker onto the field. It also circumnavigates Teeg's restriction when bestowing it.)
Commander 2013:
nice to see that Wizards pulled the stops in the reprint and printed some p3k cards however not much in the set interests my deck except for Act of Authority. However I forsee lots Sidri and Derevi decks on cockatrice ... so remember to pack your torpor orbs and stony silences.
Theros:
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^.^
yeah ... enchantment block has me so happy, but being more specific, I am actually very interested in picking up Nylea and her bow for the deck. As for the bestow mechanic, it seems underwhelming since its cost is so high to get a decent boost. if they print one where the cmc of bestow is at most 4, I might consider it.
Arcum Dagson:
This match up is similar to the one with Sharuum, however you will want to get one of the following out first: stony silence, null rod, Damping Matrix. Although the artifacts do lose their abilities, use Titania's song carefully as it will give your opponent more fuel for arcum.
Kaalia of the Vast
Another build around commander which can be very hard to deal with. Although dueling grounds doesn't stop the creatures that she drops with her abilities, it does limit the attacks after they the hit the field. Torpor orb is almost a must in this match up due to the etb abilities they can abuse (rune-scarred demon, angel of dispair, karmic guide, and many others). This match up is very dependent on the ramp, meaning who can hit their big spells first, so null rod and stony silence is also useful in this match up. Sideboard in vow of wildness to stop kaalia from attacking you.
I've been working on a reanimator style of enchantress deck in these colors and I was wondering how you found Dowsing Shaman? I'm on the fence about it because it's expensive and slow, but one of the few ways to consistently recur enchantments in these colors.
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I really don't like Goodstuff, which makes me a Self-Proclaimed EDH Hipster. I'm also an avid theory-crafter, most of which are terrible.
Yes it is slow, but the fact that it can bring back any enchantment is why I would run it over Mythmaker. It brings back sterling grove or any enchantment that got hated off the table. It also doesn't hurt that its a 3/4 so it is bolt proof and can trade with some creatures
Some things I noticed from my time with Enchantress Uril:
1.You don't seem to be playing a lot of ramp. One card I liked was Khalni Heart Expedition because it ramped and worked with my Enchantresses.
2. No Sun Titan? Sure, the ETB gets hosed if you have Torpor Orb out, but it's exellent for your enchantment recursion.
3. Why aren't you playing Rabid Wombat? Ok, so I only played it because it was funny as crap, but on a more serious note, it seems that if Siggy gets too expensive or tucked you just twiddle your thumbs and draw cards unless the stars align and you get one of your few outs to get back in the game. At least, that was my experience.
Also, I love the use of Torpor Orb and Null Rod. If I rebuild Uril ever, I'll have to look into those.
Did anything in Dragons Maze catch your eye for the deck?
Some things I noticed from my time with Enchantress Uril:
1.You don't seem to be playing a lot of ramp. One card I liked was Khalni Heart Expedition because it ramped and worked with my Enchantresses.
2. No Sun Titan? Sure, the ETB gets hosed if you have Torpor Orb out, but it's exellent for your enchantment recursion.
3. Why aren't you playing Rabid Wombat? Ok, so I only played it because it was funny as crap, but on a more serious note, it seems that if Siggy gets too expensive or tucked you just twiddle your thumbs and draw cards unless the stars align and you get one of your few outs to get back in the game. At least, that was my experience.
Also, I love the use of Torpor Orb and Null Rod. If I rebuild Uril ever, I'll have to look into those.
Did anything in Dragons Maze catch your eye for the deck?
Hi cryogen, thanks for your input it is greatly appreciated.
1. I feel that I hit my land drops with enchantress and burgeoning, but I am trying to find a card in the deck to replace with exploration. I do like khalni heart exposition but its requirement of 2 lands means that if I do play it down turn two then I have to hit another piece of ramp in order to get it off on turn 3. And if I get it activated on turn 4 I still have to wait till turn 5 for the lands to untap.
2. I do like sun titan but there are several problems. I don't have any flicker or bounce or recursion abilities. Secondly my meta has a lot of bribery and control magic. I think that I will add it to the cards to consider list because it is useful, but for now, it isn't that useful for my meta
3. I do like rabbit wombat, but I would rather play aura gnarlid or Yavimaya enchantress. Since aura gnarlid is "unblockable", its easier to send someone into the red zone than it is with wombat. I feel enchantress might be better than wombat since it counts all enchantments on the battlefield.
As for dgm, I think that the only card that caught my eye is unflinching courage.
How excited are you for the M14 rules change? It seems to benefit Sigarda very much. I like the deck so far! I wouldn't mind a little more content in the primer, but that will come with time.
So I actually have a similar deck, so I'll throw in my 2c.
Unless you plan on going a beatdown route, I found the life gain from Faith Healer a lot more relevant than Auratog.
Journey to Nowhere is really good. It has the same trick as Oblivion Ring with a sacrifice outlet, but it's also General hate since most people won't exile their General with it, instead opting to send it back to the command zone.
Indestructibility is pretty strong with Sigarda. I'd look into including Avacyn, Angel of Hope and any decent totem armor.
I would nix Open the Vaults. You've already got a lot of recursion, including multiple mass recursion options, and you whiff on half of the card. Not to mention OtV effects your opponents, whereas the other ones don't. On the same vein, Rites of Flouishing seems tempting, but the global application is unnecessary especially since you've already got 2 doublers that effect only you. If you really want another one, I'd consider Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger instead despite being a creature instead of an enchantment.
Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest is a good 'infinite' combo in case Plan A doesn't pan out. Plus they're both good on their own. (Earthcraft is ramp when you have creatures out, plus dodges Winter Orb type effects, Squirrel Nest provides chump blockers and can consistently trigger Aura Shards)
I would highly recommendTitania's Song in a deck like this.
Anyway, that should be enough information to process for now. Good luck!
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My apologies, children, for I am afraid I cannot save you all.
How excited are you for the M14 rules change? It seems to benefit Sigarda very much. I like the deck so far! I wouldn't mind a little more content in the primer, but that will come with time.
Thanks ^.^ as for the M14 Rules, I appreciate it very much, it means that I don't have to fear blue decks as much, however it does mean that their combos are getting stronger. I will be hoping that I can find some way to combat their combos better.
Unless you plan on going a beatdown route, I found the life gain from Faith Healer a lot more relevant than Auratog.
Thanks for the advice ^.^ this deck is more on the style of beat down than it is combo as a result, I do prefer using auratog than faith healer. another reason i prefer auratog is because the only enchantment I want to sacrifice is rancor so if I use Faith Healer, it becomes G: Gain 1 life and draw a card for every enchantress.
Journey to Nowhere is really good. It has the same trick as Oblivion Ring with a sacrifice outlet, but it's also General hate since most people won't exile their General with it, instead opting to send it back to the command zone.
Journey is a good card however it doesn't hit artifacts and enchantments, which is why I prefer O-ring. More often than not, I use it to hit problem artifacts and enchantments and let whoever else is playing do a wipe or spot removal
Indestructibility is pretty strong with Sigarda. I'd look into including Avacyn, Angel of Hope and any decent totem armor.
Indestructibility falls under the 4+ mana aura category, it is a good card, however I feel that with 3 ways of stopping wraths in the deck (teeg, flickerform, and Shield of the oversoul) and all of them tutorable, just having something to provide indestructibility and nothing else feels like a bit of a waste. however if i do remove something for it, it would probably be unquestioned authority.
As for Avacyn, she makes me a big lightning rod. However that is not the problem, rather its her mana cost and card type which makes me shy away from her. The name of the game for this deck is speed and avacyn isn't much of a jet but rather she is one of the planes that the Wright brothers used. If she were an enchantment then I might run her but right now she feels a little to vulnerable. I would actually run eldrazi monument over avacyn and sac sigil tokens to pay for it.
The thing with cavern is that it only protects sigarda, and therein lies my gripe with running crop rotation over city. For the small price of not casting during other people's turn, I can go on casting sprees and not give a hoot about what other people can do.
for token strats, moat + dueling grounds shuts down almost all of them barring a select few, which i would have folded to even if i used Elesh Norn instead
I would nix Open the Vaults. You've already got a lot of recursion, including multiple mass recursion options, and you whiff on half of the card. Not to mention OtV effects your opponents, whereas the other ones don't. On the same vein, Rites of Flouishing seems tempting, but the global application is unnecessary especially since you've already got 2 doublers that effect only you. If you really want another one, I'd consider Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger instead despite being a creature instead of an enchantment.
I am considering cutting open the vaults and/or rites of flourishing right now but the cards that are up for substitution are still in the paper theory stages. cards that i am considering to replace the two are gaea's touch, mana reflection, and nostalgic dreams. Again with Vorinclex, the argument against Avacyn is applied here.
out of the 4 grave hates that you mentioned i feel that the only ones that i would use are stonecloaker and wheel of sun and moon. wheel doubles as a anti-mill which one of my friends has been trying to build without much success and stonecloaker can protect Sigarda if i dont have flickerform out. These cards will go on the testing list as a replacement for OtV and Rites
of the permanent sweepers, the only one i would probably run is final judgement. Terminus and hallowed mean that i have use a tutor for Sigarda
and parallax wave only hits 5 and i have to have auratog out to abuse it.
As i mentioned before, the name of the game is speed, the only way to trigger khalni on turn 3 is to hit ramp or a fetchland.
I didnt think of Awakening zone, it will go on the testing list.
as for the elder, I have no forms of recursion so its a rampant growth that might chump block at best. I run kodama's reach and explore over these is because it can guarantee me with 5 lands on turn 4 which no other <4 mana ramp spell that I know of can do
The thing with sphere is that people can still pay to attack with many tokens which is a problem. With dueling grounds, I can guarantee that only one will be attacking and i can chump that one attacker with an angel or Sigarda or even let it through if it isn't that scary. Combining Dueling Grounds with Moat sets up even more of a restriction for my opponents. If my opponents get annoyed enough to remove dueling grounds, then they open the flood gates of 4/4 flying angels. I have had games where my opponents had ways of removing dueling grounds but didnt because they knew that i could kill them with angels the next turn (i still killed them with Sigarda though)
Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest is a good 'infinite' combo in case Plan A doesn't pan out. Plus they're both good on their own. (Earthcraft is ramp when you have creatures out, plus dodges Winter Orb type effects, Squirrel Nest provides chump blockers and can consistently trigger Aura Shards)
For earthcraft and squirrel's nest, i would either run them together or non at all. both i feel are ok cards however they feel too narrow for me. Squirrel's nest only provides one aura shard trigger a turn and the earthcraft only untaps a basic land (of course i can untap an enchanted basic land but thats beside the point)
How excited are you for the M14 rules change? It seems to benefit Sigarda very much. I like the deck so far! I wouldn't mind a little more content in the primer, but that will come with time.
We don't to often agree, and today is sadly no different(though I was about to until i relooked at the primer) I like the content, Test log is interesting though, might have to try it out for some of my threads. Also Congrats on Primer Status!
Have you considered Lightmine Field? My version seems to have biggest issues so far with swarming decks like Talrand and slivers. Of course I haven't gotten my copies of Dueling Grounds/Silent Arbiter yet. Just curious about your opinions of the card.
Have you considered Lightmine Field? My version seems to have biggest issues so far with swarming decks like Talrand and slivers. Of course I haven't gotten my copies of Dueling Grounds/Silent Arbiter yet. Just curious about your opinions of the card.
Lightmine field is a good substitute if you can't afford the cards and you know that the tokens that your opponent is churning out are not damage protected and are of low toughness.
My fairly based off of yours azn, with a few slot diferences. Here is a link to the thread:[/URL][url]http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10382864[/url] It is a lated dated, missing a few cards like wrath and the white tutors.
I'm only missing Mirari's Wake , and I feel this deck is pretty much complete, aside from land base.
For m14 I am trying Into the Wilds out aswell as Ajani's Chosen. So far neither have been terrible. What are your thoughts in oath, the csrd that gives +1+1 to creatures when it and other enchantments etb. I feel its better in swarm strats though.
The deck is solid usually hitting t7-8 kills. t2 sfm leads into some silly stuff.
If you are going to use Into the Wilds, you might want to enable it a bit more. I see you have Sylvan Library, but why not also add Mirri's Guile. Adding Fetch lands will also help mix up the top when you have both.
My fairly based off of yours azn, with a few slot diferences. Here is a link to the thread:[/URL][url]http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10382864[/url] It is a lated dated, missing a few cards like wrath and the white tutors.
I'm only missing Mirari's Wake , and I feel this deck is pretty much complete, aside from land base.
For m14 I am trying Into the Wilds out aswell as Ajani's Chosen. So far neither have been terrible. What are your thoughts in oath, the csrd that gives +1+1 to creatures when it and other enchantments etb. I feel its better in swarm strats though.
The deck is solid usually hitting t7-8 kills. t2 sfm leads into some silly stuff.
personally i dont like the large number of high cmc enchantments as teeg goes against it (i tutor for teeg as soon as possible to prevent wraths and other shenanigans).
also since you dont have much ramp, how do you counter fast ramping decks? do you let them run rampant, punish them, or try to out ramp them?
i feel that luminarch ascension is not that good of an idea as it paints a big target on your head.
I have been thinking of changing from Uril to Sigarda, as my meta is currently eat up with Edicts and Savra, Queen of the Golgari shenanigans. I do have one esper control deck that I always face also(and usually beats me), Merieke Ri Berit.
Which Sigarda type deck do you feel would be the most competitive against this?
A creature light deck would be a good way to prevent him from taking your creatures. Damping matrix all,so prevents him from activating merieke. I'd you make sure that your creatures are either global or only benefit you it also makes him want to steal from other peoples as well. Maybe sub out a utility land for homeward path
I would suggest using the enchantress or the voltron decklist as a starting point and to modify as needed
What do you think of Kor Spiritdancer as an alternative enchantress? She only draws cards off auras but you do play a quite few of those.
thanks for catching the mistakes ^.^
as for spiritdancer she is a good enchantress since i run a lot of auras but she is also another wincon for me as i can load her up with auras and go to town
Theros is awesome but not much that i want for the deck
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
I was just playing someone online running a Sigarda list that he had just thrown together, I pointed him this way to take a look at your primer. Thanks a ton for putting it up here, it's pretty cool
Couple cards that I haven't seen any discussion over and I also didn't see on the list:
Aven Mindcensor is nice and all, but can be removed and only is a small annoyance. It could prevent a person from searching in a turn, but I do not see it happening more than that. It does not add board presence or a threat. People can play around it easily.
Land tax is a great card. I enjoy it. It is a great ramp card, but only thins out your deck - does not tutor, increase CA, or create library manipulation.
Aven Mindcensor is nice and all, but can be removed and only is a small annoyance. It could prevent a person from searching in a turn, but I do not see it happening more than that. It does not add board presence or a threat. People can play around it easily.
Land tax is a great card. I enjoy it. It is a great ramp card, but only thins out your deck - does not tutor, increase CA, or create library manipulation.
I can't help but disagree on the Mindcensor. Against a mono-green deck it almost completely shuts them down by limiting the tutors they have available, and most of the green decks I know run almost nothing but. (Sylvan, Tooth and Nail, Skyshroud, Cultivate, Worldly Tutor, Natural Order, etc. etc.) I have literally seen this single card bring the game to a screeching halt for more than half the board. It stops any combo that requires a tutor, it can be done in response to someone trying to find a piece they desperately need, you can do it in response to a fetch and basically nuke a land ... I've been playing in the format more than half a decade now and this card is the stones, without question. Every single deck in the format plays a massive amount of tutors. At the very worst this card reads "2:symw: ; Put a 2/1 flying creature in play: Prevent target opponent from finding that land/piece/ramp they wanted, and make another opponent discard a removal spell" That's one of the better 3 for 1's in the game., and all for 3 cmc? o.o
When it comes to Top/Sol Ring, you're saying that you don't run the best mana accel in the format and the best library manipulation in the format because you also run 1 1/2 cards that nullify them? (Damping Matrix doesn't hit the Sol Ring) That's like saying you're not going to run lands because you play Armageddon. Not necessarily trying to sound cheeky, but that argument doesn't hold water. I won't say there's a required list of staples that go in every deck, but if there was such a list Top and Ring would literally be #1 and #2 on said list, There's a reason they're played in every single edh deck ever constructed. Being able to T3 Sigarda is huge, especially if you're in an aggro matchup and just need to get her out a little faster.
as to the Land Tax... I mean, it does create CA in the fact that it puts more cards in your hand, which can be useful. With a Scroll Rack it's a 1 colorless cmc Ancestrall Recall every turn, but obviously rack isn't on this list either. It just seems that an Enchantress type deck would play arguably to most efficient 1 cmc enchantment white ever had printed for it. At the very least it's thinning out the deck and making sure you hit the land drops every turn. The OP said the deck really needs it's mana, and this lets you come back a little quicker after an Armageddon effect as well.
I can't help but disagree on the Mindcensor. Against a mono-green deck it almost completely shuts them down by limiting the tutors they have available, and most of the green decks I know run almost nothing but. (Sylvan, Tooth and Nail, Skyshroud, Cultivate, Worldly Tutor, Natural Order, etc. etc.) I have literally seen this single card bring the game to a screeching halt for more than half the board. It stops any combo that requires a tutor, it can be done in response to someone trying to find a piece they desperately need, you can do it in response to a fetch and basically nuke a land ... I've been playing in the format more than half a decade now and this card is the stones, without question. Every single deck in the format plays a massive amount of tutors. At the very worst this card reads "2:symw: ; Put a 2/1 flying creature in play: Prevent target opponent from finding that land/piece/ramp they wanted, and make another opponent discard a removal spell" That's one of the better 3 for 1's in the game., and all for 3 cmc? o.o
When it comes to Top/Sol Ring, you're saying that you don't run the best mana accel in the format and the best library manipulation in the format because you also run 1 1/2 cards that nullify them? (Damping Matrix doesn't hit the Sol Ring) That's like saying you're not going to run lands because you play Armageddon. Not necessarily trying to sound cheeky, but that argument doesn't hold water. I won't say there's a required list of staples that go in every deck, but if there was such a list Top and Ring would literally be #1 and #2 on said list, There's a reason they're played in every single edh deck ever constructed. Being able to T3 Sigarda is huge, especially if you're in an aggro matchup and just need to get her out a little faster.
as to the Land Tax... I mean, it does create CA in the fact that it puts more cards in your hand, which can be useful. With a Scroll Rack it's a 1 colorless cmc Ancestrall Recall every turn, but obviously rack isn't on this list either. It just seems that an Enchantress type deck would play arguably to most efficient 1 cmc enchantment white ever had printed for it. At the very least it's thinning out the deck and making sure you hit the land drops every turn. The OP said the deck really needs it's mana, and this lets you come back a little quicker after an Armageddon effect as well.
Thanks for your input and as for mindcensor, I have considered it as part of the silver bullet list but haven't really put much thought into it as there is a guy at my meta who likes to grab stranglehold in his zedruu deck.
As for the mana rocks, I often tutor for the stony silence because I see ay too much equipment. Another reason that I don't use rocks are the fact that they don't trigger enchantress. After on of the artifact locks come out, they become dead draws. If you look at my list, I don't run any artifacts with activated abilities even though it might do the deck well.
As for the land tax, I have considered it and used it in the early months when this deck was being built. I believe it got removed on favor of burgeoning which became exploration. Undoubtedly I should rethink about putting it back in and I probably will or at the very least put it into the card options list
I'm a fan of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. A lot of times it has a similar output of mana as Serra's Sanctum with the up side of being possibly G and always being able to tap for mana.
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Many thanks to Lanxal for the banner
- Introduction
- Why play Sigarda?
- Deck History
- Deck List
- Card Options
- Thoughts on sets
- Strategy
- Change Log
She's an angel wielding a scythe, you don't mess with her
Sigarda, Host of Herons is one of the 3 multi-coloured angels introduced in Avacyn Restored. Her set of abilities make her very versatile for different deck builds.
This primer will show you how to play her as a midrange enchantress. For a deck list to play Voltron, or big creature swarm, look in the Strategy section of this primer or in my signiture.
Why play this commander:
Pros:
Deck history:
I picked up Sigarda when she first came out because at the time I was planing on making a deck that wasn't Teeg hate bear, Rhys tokens galore, Saffi combo, or Sisay good stuff toolbox. I was planning on a Gabriel Angelfire from deck but I felt that his mana cost was too high for what he brought to the table. After the first version of the deck, I found that I didn't really have a lot of card draw and the right equipment to make the deck into a equipment deck. Changing the deck to hybrid helped with the problem but some of the equipments and the auras didn't work together. I made the decision to go full enchantress after my friend decided to make a legacy enchantress deck and got more cards than he needed.
Deck list:
The card that makes the deck tick
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
Creature
1 Academy Rector
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Auratog
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Eternal Witness
1 Femeref Enchantress
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Mesa Enchantress
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Silent Arbiter
1 Verduran Enchantress
Planeswalker
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Enchantment (non-aura)
1 Abundance
1 Aura of Silence
1 Aura Shards
1 Awakening Zone
1 City of Solitude
1 Dueling Grounds
1 Enchantress's Presence
1 Exploration
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Moat
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Privileged Position
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Sterling Grove
1 Stony Silence
1 Sylvan Library
1 Ancestral Mask
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Battle Mastery
1 Bear Umbra
1 Ethereal Armor
1 Fertile Ground
1 Flickerform
1 Rancor
1 Shield of the Oversoul
1 Spirit Mantle
1 Unflinching Courage
1 Unquestioned Authority
1 Utopia Sprawl
Artifact
1 Damping Matrix
1 Null Rod
1 Torpor Orb
Instant
1 Beast Within
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Krosan Grip
1 Oblation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
Sorcery
1 Austere Command
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Cultivate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Replenish
1 Retether
1 Three Dreams
1 Winds of Rath
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Command Tower
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Krosan Verge
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Savannah
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
11 Forest
9 Plains
Card options:
Creatures
Academy Rector - a great enchantment fetcher and circumnavigates Teeg's 3 or less restriction.
Auratog - a little creature with potential to get big temporarily. This creature synergizes with rancor and any enchantress for lots of card draw. Also has the added bonus of saving enchantments that are about to be exiled.
Argothian Enchantresses/Kor Spiritdancer/Mesa Enchantress/Verduran Enchantress/Enchantress's Presence - these are the core of the deck as they make your enchantments replace themselves
Eidolon of Blossoms - Enchantress #5 can be tutored by creature and enchantment tutors, triggers on itself, and has power as well. The only downside may be the GG casting cost which isnt that much of a problem anyways
Gaddock Teeg - stops wrath but gets hated. Its more of a silver bullet if someone is going rampant with big cmc spells
Hushwing Gryff - Torpor Orb #2
Quasali Pridemage - artifact or enchant destroy with the added bonus of exalted
Silent Arbiter - dueling grounds number 2 for more redundancy
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - One activation puts people on a 3 turn clock. Two activations put people on a 2 turn clock. Not to mention the filtering that the card has with the second ability. the 100 life is nothing to scoff at, although it probably should only be activated only if the enemy if playing a heavy aggro deck.
Abundance - synergizes with sylvan library to "draw" 3 cards a turn. Also goes well with enchantresses to draw more fuel.
Aura of Silence - taxes for your opponents and spot removal if something threatening shows up
Aura Shards - if Sigil of the Empty Throne is out then watch enchantment also destroys an artifact or enchantment, be careful as some people may feel threatened and try to focus you
Awakening Zone - allows for a turn for Sigarda and continues to ramp. A good card and might replace a ramp spell, however it doesn't colour fix and doesn't impact immediately. However, the tokens can carry auras, especially rancor (a continuous stream of 2/1s never looked so amusing)
City of solitude - if this resolves, this card stops control decks till they can find an answer. The downside is that it affects everyone including yourself so make sure that you are in a position that you can protect yourself.
Dueling grounds - stops token decks
Exploration - although a little slower than burgeoning, it is better mid and late game when people are not hitting their land drops
Mirari's Wake - doubles your mana for more casting sprees
Moat - stops most swarms in their path (if you don't have one or aren't rolling in money then get magus of the moat, the only downside is that it’s a creature)
Nylea, God of the Hunt - it provides the much needed trample that Sigarda lacks and puts her up to 7 power if I keep the mana open. I list Nylea as an enchantment because I dont think that I would keep her as a creature on the field. However her creature supertype allows her to get around teeg
Oblivion Ring - helps remove some pesky enchantments or artifacts. If using this on creatures, be careful if there is a potential for board wipe as you might have saved their creature
Privileged Position - protects your stuff from spot removal
Sigil of the Empty Throne - makes an army if you start machine gunning enchantments. These angles double as aura targets
Sterling grove - protection and tutor in a pinch
Stony silence - stops artifact ramp
Sylvan Library - who doesn't like more draw or deck manipulation?
Ancestral Mask - major buff for Sigarda allowing her to 1-2 shot people
Armadillo Cloak - trample and life gain with the possibility of 3 shoting people
Battle Mastery - double strike makes the clock tick faster
Bear Umbra - totem armor with and untap ability for more enchantress action
Ethereal Armor - ancestral mask's little brother, nothing to laugh at though as it can and has ended games
Fertile Ground - mana fixing and enchantress fodder
Flickerform - covers what indestructible and hexproof can't. Only gripe is mana cost of ability.
Rancor - gives trample and a good power boost. Synergizes with Auratog and enchantresses.
Shield of the Oversoul - indestructible. Generally the first aura you wanna tutor for.
Spirit Mantle - basically reads unblockable (there are ways of getting around it but they are few and not commonly played)
Unflinching Courage - Armadillo Cloak 2.0
Unquestioned Authority - unblockable + cantrip
Utopia Sprawl - mana ramp + enchantress fodder. Generally the coloured to pick is white but if you are short on green then go for it
Damping matrix - stops many annoying abilities but use with caution as it draws flack
null rod - stops artifact ramp and equipments
Torpor orb - stops etb the gathering
Beast Within - sport removal
Eladamri's Call - instant speed creature tutor (generally tutor for enchantresses)
Enlightened Tutor - tutor for silver bullets or for auras
Krosan Grip - spot removal
Oblation - spot removal or synergy with abundance
Swords to Plowshares - spot removal
Worldly Tutor - instant creature tutor
Austere Command - modal wipes
Creeping Renaissance - recover enchantments
Cultivate - mana ramp
Idyllic Tutor - enchantment tutor. I tent to use this more late game as I can cast what I fetch in the same turn.
Kodama's Reach - mana ramp
Replenish - by far your best recursion and worth the money to get
Retether - only really useful after 4-5 auras have hit the yard
Three Dreams - aura tutors. Generally fetch [/card]battle mastery[/card], shield of the over soul, and rancor/armadillo cloak/vow of Wildness
Winds of Rath - special boardwipe for this deck. useless against uril decks though, so board in wrath or god or cleansing meditation
Cavern of Souls - counters hate this
Command Tower - colour fixing
Ghost Quarter - try to keep it for riftstone portal but if you have to, use it on utility lands that your opponent needs
Hall of the Bandit Lord - haste is very important
Krosan Verge - mistveil plains tutor and mana ramp
Mistveil Plains - recursion into the deck. Mainly for the STP and mass recursion spells.
[card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[card] - this card is great for massive casting sprees
Reliquary Tower - you are going to draw lots of cards
Riftstone Portal - this card is harder to get online cause its unlikely to get blown up and when its in the yard, its likely to get removed. If you take this out replace ghost quarter with tectonic edge
Savannah - dual land ... No explanation needed
Serra's Sanctum - this is an enchantress deck, it would be blasphemy not to have this
Strip Mine - get rid of utility lands
Sunpetal grove - colour fixing
Temple Garden - shock lands ... Happy that they got reprinted
Wasteland - again this is for utility lands
Windswept Heath - most likely fetching mistveil plains
Forest - gotta have em
Plains - can't live without them
Silver Bullets: (this deck already runs lots of them so there aren't that many here)
MLD - my deck relies heavily on lands and doesn't have a way of bringing lands back from the grave. If you do include mld for your deck be sure to include cards like crucible or loam package
Karmic justice - I haven't justified it being in the deck but I will put it in if my meta starts packing more destroy enchantment stuff
Titania's Song - good silver bullet to artifact heavy decks be wary of large artifacts like forge and lattice becoming problematic beat sticks
Aven Mindcensor - if ramp and tutoring runs rampant in your meta consider using this card to stop them from getting out of hand (Maybe remove the Quasali Pridemage or the Silent Arbiter)
Wheel of Sun and Moon - says "f u" to the reanimator deck
Spirit of the Labyrinth - dicks blue decks and the massive card draws and also prevents nekusaur from killing you with wheels
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Rule of law on a stick. personally rule of law would probably be better but this allows for creature tutors to also get it as well. If you are running this or rule of law, be careful of what you put down on the board as you don't wanna waste your 1 spell per turn.
Ugin's Nexus - Stops time magic. Can be destroyed for an extra turn when in a pinch.
Previously suggested, removed, interesting cards
Praetor's counsel - more recursion
Nomad Mythmaker/Dowsing Shaman - allows for enchantment recursion, more specifically it’s for auras that were dropped off Sigarda
Krond the dawn-clad - the reason that he isn't commander or part of the 99 is his casting cost. Mana fixing for him was a pain in the rear without much mana fixing cards in the deck
Cmc 4+ auras and some enchantments - Teeg shuts them down and I'm not rectoring them when I have other cards to rector. Bear umbra gets through though cause it untaps lands, which allows me to go for another enchantress fueled casting spree
Mana rocks - I could use them but if I have stony silence or null rod then they become expensive paper weights which can't even give me draws off an enchantress
Solemn Simulacrum or any etb creatures - torpor orb partially it, but the main problem is no recursion or blinks except for Flickerform which I'm most likely to enchant Sigarda with.
Greater auramancy - it used to be in the deck until it started to get in the way of enchanting Sigarda after the first aura. (Before you say "but azn can't you play the auramancy after you are finished enchanting", I say this, if she dies to board wipe then you have to get rid of it before you start can go aura crazy again, which is a waste of a spell or ability.)
Emeria, the sky ruin - while I do like the option of getting creatures back, its requirement of 7 plains is TOO DAMN HIGH
Blind Obedience - since most of your cards are on a low curve, you will have mana to spare, so you can consider using this card to keep yourself topped up and slowly drain your enemies for an easier kill. Also helps against maelstrom wanderer decks and other decks which have hasty creatures and the immediate use of mana rocks
vernal equinox/vedalken orrey - equinox is a great card but the downside is that any player can use it. you can consider using vedalken orrey if you want the flash. The reason i don't use either is I tutor for city of solitude constantly
Vow of Wildness - trample and a big boost, also doubles as pseudo pacifism (it can replace armadillo cloak or unflinching courage)
oracle of mul daya - this card allows you to play the top card off your library if it’s a land. Allows you to draw more important stuff.
cataclysm - gets around indestructible board states and allows Sigarda more breathing room if she was behind. Add if no one else is playing voltron. Be sure to float lotsa mana before casting (preferably have replenish in hand)
magus of the moat - poor man's moat, however is not recovered with enchantment recursion spells.
mirri's guile - poor man's replacement for sylvan library.
Primeval Bounty - this card is good if you have Sigarda on the field, but this doesn’t synergize with flickerform as Sigarda will lose her counters, still worth considering though, as it powers Sigarda really fast
Ajani's Chosen - Sigil of the empty throne outshines this card as sigil creates flying tokens. if you are somehow unable to find a sigil then consider using this, otherwise stick with sigil.
Burgeoning - it makes sure that you can empty your hand of lands but late game people dont really drop that many lands so i prefer exploration.
Open the Vaults - mass enchantment recovery. Be careful when playing against mirror match up or artifact heavy decks like sharuum
Act of Authority - useful in certain situations but can backfire horribly (need to check ruling of sacing in response)
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact meaning stony silence says "no".
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function except to make serra sanctum tap for loads
Nostalgic Dreams - a one sided replacement for Open the vaults. use late game by pitching lands
Stonecloaker - spot grave removal and can protect Sigarda in a pinch
Testing List:
Cards to Remove:
None Right now
Cards to Add:
None Right now
Testing:
Ajani Steadfast - replaces Ajani the mentor if you dont have him. Better if you are going the token route and are also using another walker.
Skybind - on its own it can make enchantments costs one less (exile a land that was tapped and it ETB untapped). Combined with Auratog and Rancor though, can make make your opponent's defenses nonexistant. Consider running vernal equinox or vedalken orrey to make fun times (if you do add these consider removing city of solitude which shuts them down).
Your best friend against counters and instants
Early Game:
During the early game you have several things you wanna do. Drop your lands ASAP, get at least one enchantress online, and start dropping non-aura enchantments to slow down the board and draw more cards of enchantress triggers. At around turn 4-6 you should be looking for a chance to play Sigarda without getting her destroyed. Ideally you would have played Cavern of Souls calling Angels to make sure that Sigarda is safe from counter spells, but if you didn’t draw cavern or any other card to prevent counters, then make sure that the blue deck is either tapped out or already used a counter spell on something else.
Mid Game:
If you have Sigarda on the field then start enchanting her and going to town on your opponents. If she is in the command zone then cast her asapl and start enchanting here. If she is in your deck, you have two options. Either you go with an alternate wincon or you hope to draw a tutor. Hopefully by now you have at least one enchantress on the board and are starting to slow down the game with your enchantments and artifacts.
Late Game:
If you have had good draws and plays, Sigarda should be able to one or two shot people and the board should have turned on you try to take you out. Of that is the case, then congratulations, you are playing the deck correctly. If you have been set back enough times to be seen as a non threat then congratulations you are now in a position to "pull the rug from under their feet". Try to get an enchantress on the field and play some harmless enchantment and mass up your lands. When you feel you have enough lands play as many stall/lock cards as possible, play a wincon and try to kill one person (preferably the person who is drawing a lot of cards and isn't making plays. You can be sure they are up to something). If you can take down at least one person then try to take down more until they finally kill you.
How do you want to win?
Dropping Sigarda and taking your opponents on the pain train is the main strategy.
How do you keep Sigarda alive?
With her hexproof and cannot be sacced clause, there are still things left that can kill Sigarda which are wraths, damage, -1/-1 counters. For the first two you have two options, Shield of the Oversoul and Flickerform. For -1/-1 counters, if they are prevalent in your meta then consider using Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Flickerform also removes the -1/-1 counters but the 2WW cost may be a high cost to pay if the counters are applied constantly. Although it’s not killing, Tucking or bouncing is a problem that Sigarda will face as she is a high priority target once she shows herself. Flickerform is a way to deal with it but you need the mana open.
What happens if Sigarda gets tucked?
Well then you have several ways to win without Sigarda, Sigil of the Empty Throne massing lots of angels, Auratog fed with several enchantments (has a great synergy with Rancor), Kor Spiritdancer with several auras packs a nice punch.
What if my opponents manage to send alot of the auras to the graveyard?
Don't panic, you are playing white and green, the masters of aura and enchantment recursion. You have Replenish, Open the Vaults, Retether, Creeping Renaissance, and Praetor's council, Dowsing Shaman, and Nomad Mythmaker to make sure that your enchantments come back.
Synergies:
- enchantress + enchantments = draw engine
- enchantress + abundance = your choice of land or non-land whenever you play an enchantment
- sylvan library + abundance = reveal cards until you have any three combination of land and non-land
- Auratog + rancor = G: Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- Auratog + rancor + enchantress = G: Draw a card, Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- privileged position + sterling grove = your non-enchantments have hexproof and enchantments have shroud
Opening hand:
In your opening hand, you want 2-3 lands and the rest of the cards should be from 1-3 cmc. (It would also be nice to either have an enchantress in hand or a way to tutor for one)
As mentioned in the introduction, Sigarda is a versatile commander because of her range of abilities as well as her CMC and P/W. A decklist for Voltron can be found here and a decklist for swarm can be found here
Change Log:
February 2, 2015
Fate Reforged Impressions
November 6, 2014
Commander 2014 Impressions
September 15, 2014
Back From France
Khans of Tarkir impression and some card analyzing
July 3, 2014
More M15 impressions
+ Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
+ Hushwing Gryff
- Dowsing Shaman
- Praetor's counsel
May 24, 2014
Conspiracy and M15 Impressions
May 3, 2014
Journey into Nyx release - full impression added
April 9, 2014
Impressions of Journey into Nyx
Added Ajani the Mentor to Testing List
+ Eidolon of Blossoms
- Nomad Mythmaker
February 7, 2014
+Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- Plains
January 26, 2014
Thoughts on Born of the Gods
Added Spirit of the Labyrinth to silver bullets
October 19, 2013
Thoughts Commander 2013
Added cards to "cards to consider"
September 17, 2013
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
Added Aven Mindcensor to the silver bullets list
September 2, 2013
Thoughts on Theros
Removed from testing list:
Gaea's Touch - it really wasn't doing to well for me
Mana Reflection - it was a winmore card
Added to testing list:
Nylea, God of the Hunt - trample and a buff to make Sigarda a 3 turn clock makes Nylea a card worthy of using, however more testing must be done before I add it in.
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact.
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function
Gift of Immortality - says f u to board wipes
August 26, 2013
Fixed some minor problems in the thread and added mld to cards to consider
July 8, 2013
- Rites of Flourishing - its symetrical ability was the biggest problem for me. card draw wasn't really affected because i had enchantresses and the extra lands were substituted with eldrazi mana
+ Awakening Zone - provides a body for rancor as well as mana for a turn 4 sigarda if dropped turn 3
- Burgeoning - great early game when everyone is dropping lands but slows late game. moved to cards to consider
+ Exploration - great throughout the game regardless of whether people drop lands or not
June 19, 2013
Got Approved ^.^ happy dance
added Testing list
Added Titania's song to cards to consider list
May 22, 2013
Added stuff to Strategy, and Why play this commander
Added Primeval Bounty and Ajani's Chosen to Cards to consider
May 1, 2013
Added Exploration, Oracle of Mul Daya, Cataclysm, Magus of the Moat, Mirri's Guile to the "cards to consider list"
April 20, 2013
+ Unflinching Courage (didn't have that many voltron generals in my meta so I'd rather tag something with lifelink so I can gain some life back)
- Vow of Wildness
Feel free to comment
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
Thoughts on recent sets:
Eldritch Moon
We have now entered the lovecraftian horror genre with tentacles and mind melting monstrosities everywhere. With the fight against the eldrazi reaching its peak and "conclusion", Sigarda brings some upgrades which are helpful. Escalate as a mechanic is useful modal spell and in late game using all the modes becomes easier. Meld on the other hand reminds me of Yugioh and although its flavorful, its not my cup of tea.
Legendaries in the set:
Bruna, the Fading Light - Recursion and melds into a scarier monster
Gisela, the Broken Blade - while not really strong on her own, melded with bruna, she become a power house of a card
Brisela, Voice of Nightmares - While the name just sounds rediculous (i think that Gisuna would have sounded better), the meld of Gisela and Bruna is a the stuff of nightmares for Sigarda decks which try to play around teeg.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Not too strong on her own, Thalia gets much stronger when paired with abilities like stasis, and other abilities which cause your opponents to skill the untap step
Ishkanah, Grafwidow - our first legendary spider, it isn't exactly the strongest but it will do well to increase other people's fear of spiders.
Gisa and Geralf - another alternative if you didn't want to have Grimgrin, or Dralnu to head a zombie deck.
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde - kinda sad that it doesn't hold a light to the huntsmaster.
Emrakul, the Promised End - interesting abilities similar to emrakul 1.0 but still isnt as hard to get rid of
Other interesting cards:
Collective Effort - good removal, and buffing,
Sigarda's Aid - Great card for Sigarda to create some more combat tricks
Docent of Perfection - wizard decks rejoice as this card had given you to stall and to set up your win.
Mind's Dilation - an interesting card which helps you steal other cards
Summary Dismissal - Basically a less stronger time stop
Liliana, the Last Hope - not exactly the strongest of lilianas but she can still do work
Harmless Offering - a red donate
Mirrorwing Dragon - First zada now mirrorwing, it seems that this kind of ability will become a red ability.
Nahiri's Wrath - while I wish that this card could hit players, it still a pretty strong card considering the cards in this set
Eldritch Evolutionp - Wizard's yearly attempt to make another card that isn't as broken as pod.
Splendid Reclamation - great follow up to gitrog
Spell Queller - great answer to counter spells as they will fizzle when queller ltbs
Tamiyo, Field Researcher - this card is boss in a super friends deck
Decimator of the Provinces - kinda sad that this says cast instead of etb otherwise it would be a definite card for maeyel.
Soul Separator - a fun card for decks which don't really reanimate their key creatures.
Shadows over Innistrad
Shadows over Innistrad sees the return of zombies, werewolves and vampires (Oh My!). It has also bring angels and their hosts. While there are cards which help Sigarda, this set still focuses much on the eldrazi and their playstyles which doesn't really play nicely with Sigarda.
Legendaries in the set:
Archangel Avacyn - good as commander or as part of the 99 to protect creature combos. Her flip is slightly less useful but can clear out some utility creatures when you don't want to boardwipe
Odric, Lunarch Marshal - concerted effort on roids
Olivia, Mobilized for War - I actually want to see if an Olivia deck is actually viable since you can recur discarded stuff since you are playing black. Red takes more of a backseat roll and provides utility.
Sigarda, Heron's Grace - while she isnt as strong as sigarda 1.0, Sigarda 2.0 is still very strong in her own niche deck.
The Gitrog Monster - either used as the commander or as part of the 99, crucible of worlds is hilariously strong with gitfrog. I have him in Meren as an additional draw outlet and land drop.
Other interesting cards:
Always Watching - Although it only provides +1/+1, the global vigilance is extremely valuable
Declaration in Stone - a two edged sword which can either win you games or hilariously lose them.
Descend upon the Sinful - one of Sigarda's few weaknesses
Eerie Interlude - great in etb decks gets shut down by torpor orb, hush wing gryph, and Containment Priest
Hope Against Hope - arguable if this is better than the eidolon of countless battles but it can be useful
Open the Armory - In some cases idyllic tutor #2
Engulf the Shore - a powerhouse lategame
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets - cause rule of law wasn't annoying enough right?
Behold the Beyond - The graveyard is basically a second hand anyways
Diregraf Colossus - zombie, zombies everywhere
Relentless Dead - yet another must have for zombie decks
Triskaidekaphobia - I have seen someone win with this card. it would be interesting to see this in something like Ghost council 3.0 or in Oloro
Falkenrath Gorger - support for an Olivia mobilized by war deck?
Stensia Masquerade - another vampire support card
Cryptolith Rite - mana production for token decks as if they needed more (crossroads with ghave?)
Anguished Unmaking - looses the ability to hit lands but gets instant speed
Sorin, Grim Nemesis - The first ability is annoying enough and can win games
Arlinn Kord - her abilities are useful and well rounded
Nahiri, the Harbinger - another great walker (kinda wished that she didn't do what she did in the story though)
Westvale Abbey - the transformed creature is mildly hard to get rid of for certain decks
Commander 2015
Commander sets always have me excited to see what gets introduced to shake up the commander worlds. Although the selesnya wasn't represented this year I'm sure that when it does come out it will be lovely.
Legendaries in the set:
Anya, Merciless Angel - I feel that Anya is actually isnt that good. When a player has left than half, sure Anya can 3 shot them but the problem is you have to get them down to less than half.
Arjun, the Shifting Flame - have you ever wanted a personal teferi's puzzle box? well look no further. Great if you have abilities which trigger when you draw cards (archmage ascension) but otherwise Nekusar players are laughing madly.
Daxos the Returned - if this is the enchantment commander of the the duo colour sets then I am very sad. Making big creatures is nice but its not that useful for w/b outside of some niche situations.
Ezuri, Claw of Progress - elfball laughs as it drops a joraga tree speaker.
Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - interesting card with a very hard to fufill in r/w otherwise this card is a monster.
Karlov of the Ghost Council - another card that had me super excited when I saw it. although it doesnt have the protection that council 1.0 or 2.0 had, the fact that its easy to gain life in w/b makes his removal ability super scary.
Kaseto, Orochi Archmage - i think that this card could be pretty fun in a u/g deck as a finisher, although evasion generally isn't needed as you can just overrun most other decks
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest - keeping track of counters soon becomes a chore which you will learn to hate.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - one of the strongest recoursion commanders in the game currently
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - yet another experience gaining ability which I don't really like even though I understand where they are coming from. Hilarious in u/r chaos though.
Other interesting cards:
Blade of Selves - Sharuum laughs
Command Beacon - makes some commanders actually playable (looking at you haakon)
Ezuri's Predation - a green "boardwipe"
Mirror Match - yet another blue fog which can serve as a board wipe as well
Mizzix's Mastery - hilariously strong card if you have the right cards in the yard.
Shielded by Faith - you can consider using this in sigarda but i personally don't like it since it doesn't power buff
Synthetic Destiny - yet another polymorph effect
Oath of Gatewatch
The abilities in this set were interesting but still underwhelming. Of all the abilities only surge stood out for me.
Legendaries in the set:
General Tazri - Good ally commander as it tutor and buffs your allies
Linvala, the Preserver - oh Linvala how you have fallen from grace. Once known as the terror of activated abilities you are now pretty but not that good.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - really strong against graveyard recoursion decks. the first part of the ability is already good enough to make a deck out of. the token and consumption ability is just added bonus.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - great life gain ability and removal ability. definitely worth building around
Jori En, Ruin Diver - a monster in 1v1 as you can counter then use a cantrip/burn spell and get lots of value
Mina and Denn, Wildborn - a meh ability but could see play as part of the 99
Kozilek, the Great Distortion - kozilek 1.0 I feel is better. The counter ability is interesting but commander has too high of a cmc variance in multiplayer matches.
Other interesting cards:
Call the Gatewatch - superfriends must have
Oaths - the green, and white oaths are must haves for superfriends where as the blue and red aren't necesarry
Stone Haven Outfitter - good in equipement decks with leonin shikari to make use of dying creatures
Sphinx of the Final Word - permanent boseiju
Bonds of Mortality - be wary of this card in green hate decks
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar - great for swarm decks
Matter Reshaper - suprisingly useful in most decks which can generate the colourless mana
Wastes - colourless players rejoiced with the inclusion of wastes
Battle for Zendikar
While the set has interesting mechanics it doesn't do much to help Sigarda. Awaken and Converge both were underwhelming when I first saw it and now when I revisit the set.
Legendaries in the set:
Drana, Liberator of Malakir - Interesting card but black isnt really known for its creature swarms. She can be made as a voltron but mono black has many better voltron commanders.
Zada, Hedron Grinder - with an ability similar to ink treader nephilim, this guy is better as part of a shenanigan deck than being at the helm.
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper - great if you can protect the land thats animated otherwise you are asking people to use boardwipes.
Omnath, Locus of Rage - I saw this in a 5c elemental deck and it was a hilarious finisher. The landfall ability and bolt ability are almost always useful
Munda, Ambush Leader - better as part of the 99
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - good replacement for ulamog 1.0 if you are have a kozilek to recycle your deck
Other interesting cards:
Allies - Hurray for ally decks as they have more stuff to play around with.
Defiant Bloodlord - sanguine bond #2
Ob Nixilis Reignited - a good walker for what he does all his abilities are relavent, however his last ability is only really punishing against decks which draw alot of cards or if you are playing Nekusar.
Zulaport Cutthroat - better blood artist
Greenwarden of Murasa - good recursion
Kiora, Master of the Depths - great for most ug decks as you almost always want to untap stuff, the second ability is great searching and the graveyard is almost always a second hand. Third ability is still useful as removal.
Catacomb Sifter - great for graveyard decks to help you filter
Sanctum of Ugin - artifact decks rejoice as you have another tutor
Void Winnower - hilariously annoying card
Oblivion Sower - suprisingly strong if you are able to constantly cast this card over and over. generates massive land advantage
Archive
Origins
Oh man for the last core set Wizards pulled all the stops for Origins. It makes me sad that this set felt more Theros than the entire theros block. Otherwise it is a great set with many powerful cards and interesting mechanics (Renown and Spell Mastery).
Legendaries in the set:
Alhammarret, High Arbiter - Nevermore on a stick ... it has its uses but I personally dont really like it that much.
Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen - Legendary elf lord with a weaker verson of Rhys the Exiled ability. Good as part of the 99
Hixus, Prison Warden - An interesting ability on paper, but when you remember that most attacks in this game are lethal and the ones that aren't generally arent even worth removing, Hixus becomes alot less effective.
Kothophed, Soul Hoarder - A great flavorful ability. Destroying others to gain knowledge at the price of your soul. Just be wary when you boardwipe that the enemy doesnt randomly spawn an army out of nowhere with cards like Ant Queen.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar - Siege-gang commander for artifacts. Blink shinanegans will be hilarious with them.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh/Chandra, Roaring Flame - one of the weaker walkers in a format of 40 life, however do not underestimate the 2 damage as it is great for removing utility creatures. Easy to flip by attack then cast a spell and then tap.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros/Gideon, Battle-Forged - Great for mono white aggro as the commander or as part of the 99. No large mana investment needed and both his creature and walker abilities are beautiful.
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace, Telepath Unbound - looting on the creature side and utility on the walker side. The only gripe I have with this card is the -2/0 for one creature only. Its not much to gripe about but its still something
Liliana, Heretical Healer/Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - The strongest walker of the 5 in this format. All abilities are relevant and useful throughout the game. She is playable as part of the 99 or as the commander (personally prefer her as commander in order to load her up fast)
Nissa, Vastwood Seer/Nissa, Sage Animist - Great card advantage and ramp. The 4/4 Legendary is iffy since it doesnt have any tagged on abilities. Her third ability is great for setting up boardwipes.
Other interesting cards:
Archangel of Tithes - Ghostly prison which works on the offensive side as well. Useful against swarm strategies and against people who like to tap out.
Relic Seeker - Nicknamed "stone-forge lite", this card will be interesting to see in both commander as well as modern as a budget replacement of SfM
Starfield of Nyx - OH BABY ENCHANTMENT RECURSION!!! ... oh wait it makes all my non auras weak to removal ... well dam ... (its a great card but I feel that the opalescence portion of the card is just too overbearing)
Tragic Arrogance - A great replacement for Cataclysm if your playgroup doesnt like the LD portion. It is in someways better than cataclysm as you get to choose what they keep.
Day's Undoing - Interesting card ... give it flash and do some hilarious things to stop your opponents from doing EOT Shinanigans
Disciple of the Ring - great for decks which don't have a way of recycling graveyard otherwise its really iffy as the graveyard is basically a second hand.
Jace's Sanctum - great for control decks and a special favorite for my Talrand deck to smooth out my draws.
Soul Blade Djinn - Spell heavy decks may be able to use this as a win condition. Otherwise just it might just show up in Talrand decks.
Talent of the Telepath - Whats better than using your oppenent's Tooth and Nail? How about using 2 Tooth and Nails? (unfortunately the spells arent entwined so it basically is 4 mana for an TaN Entwined)
Thopter Spy Network - A 4 mana Bitterblossom with tagged on abilities and no downsides ... I know that its 4 cmc but in a game which can drag on for many turns this card is hilariously strong at clogging up the board. (fun fact: the longest game i have ever played was 3 hours long and only ended because the janitor needed to clean the room)
Whirler Rogue - grixis artifacts with a random Master of Cruelties to make your enemies cry
Willbreaker - use with Prodigal Sorcerer for hilarious times
Dark Dabbling - Great for cards like Day of Judgement or cards which you can regen through (also nets you a card as well).
Dark Petition - pseudo demonic tutor isnt that bad in a format which 5 mana in black is easily achievable.
Demonic pact - hilarious card to Donate to your enemy once you are done using it.
Erebos's Titan - If only it said an opponent instead of your opponents this card would be so much crazier. But as it stands, the titan can be used as a discard outlet/fodder.
Graveblade Marauder - Self mill has another wincon? This card is great ... now if only it had some somber or witty flavour text.
Infinite Obliteration - great if you know what your opponent has, otherwise its a crap shoot and a way to look at what they are running in their deck.
Languish - Anti-indestructible pseudo-wrath
Tainted Remedy - oh look at all the life that you are gaining, it would be a shame if someone were to make you lose that much instead (also the card art is beautiful and very story driven)
Abbot of Keral Keep - oh look more CA for red
Chandra's Ignition - note that the card doesn't kill the creature it targets ... works great with deathtouch or lifelink
Flameshadow Conjouring - great for those Riku decks if they didnt have enough copy abilities
Shivan Dragon - 10/10 hands down the best card ever, I even traded my bayou, and volcanic island for it ... T.T I still regret making that decision to this very day ...
Animist's Awakening - HI HO LANDFALL!!! great if you have spare mana to dump.
Evolutionary Leap - Great for creature light decks which run token generators and have impactful big creatures (use in a 5cc deck with one copy of progenitus)
Herald of the Pantheon - I feel like this set was more Theros than the entire Theros block combined ... makes me sad that this creature isn't an enchantment as well
Managorger Hydra - gets real big, real quick. Fortunately it lacks protection.
Nissa's Revelation - Great for decks like Mayael or the Green good stuff.
The Greater Aurora - A watered down and more forgiving version of Warp World ... crazy fun in token decks.
Woodland bellower - tutor for utility creatures you say ... searches for and is searched by Fierce Empath you say ...
Shaman of the Pack - G/B elves have another wincon
Alhammarret's Archive - oh boy I can't wait to abuse it with Sensei's Divining Top
Hangarback Walker - suprisingly fun and effective in non cutthroat environments
Helm of the Gods - great ... wizards is taunting my anti artifact stance ...
Orbs of Warding - Use with Ajani Steadfast or Forcefield
Pyromancer's Goggles - If you thought that one Warp World was annoying, wait till you have to resolve two.
Sword of the Animist - Mana ramp, pretty simple and straight forward
Dragons of Tarkir
The set has many cards which will be interesting to see in commander. Formidable, megamorph, bolster are interesting mechanics with formidable probably being the only mechanic which may impact EDH the most in the form of Shaman of Forgotten Ways
Legendaries in the set:
Humans:
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit - really interesting card i would love to see a deck which is able to properly use her ability but the fact that it is bolster 1 rather than 1 counter on target creature makes me a little sad (bolster 2 would have made it so much stronger).
Sidisi, Undead Vizier - a great commander and has the potential to become very strong due to the fact that black can generate lots of bodies for sidisi to explot and ways to kill her off and bring her back. aven mindcensor, torpor orb, hushwing gryph, and leonin arbiter are your friends in this match up.
Surrak the Hunt Caller - compared to the other version, this surrak seems underwhelming as xenegod can do his job better.
Zurgo Bellstriker - oh how low you have fallen zurgo the card fits the character but thats about it not really viable for much.
Dragons:
Dragonlord Atarka - great way for clearing the way for your commander 7 mana for 8/8 trample flying with the ability to shoot things on attack is a formidable creature. since hes green, conventional prison cards like vows and such are almost pointless to play since they are quickly removed. your hope is to out race him.
Dragonlord Dromoka - Dromoka lends himself/herself to a more control oriented build similar to what gadock teeg would do. replacing cards like armadillo cloak and its counter parts for more silver bullets and possibly more ramp. Overall I feel like dromoka would be better as part of the 99 with someone like teeg at the helm.
Dragonlord Kolaghan - a half decent RB commander 6 for a 6/5 haste is nothing to sneeze at and granting your other creatures haste is great as well. the second ability shuts down relentless rats decks and shadowborn apostle decks.
Dragonlord Ojutai - great card advantage although the hexproof clause is a little upsetting. fortunately blue and white has many ways to keep it untapped
Dragonlord Silumgar - lowest power of the dragonlords but a very strong ability.
FATE REFORGED
Overall this sets mechanic is interesting to say the least. Dash, Manifest and Bolster are all great mechanics but they have little in the way of helping out our deck.
Legendaries in the set:
Humans:
Daghatar the Adamant - not that scary compared to the other GWB commanders. Be more wary of the deck itself rather this card.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest - Heralded as the "fairer" (if there is such a thing) version of rafiq of the many, Shu Yun requires alot of mana to do his thing. He has the potential to become dangerous very fast. While losing green means that there are some buffs that Shu Yun is losing, red has enough support and buffs to dampen the blow. Be wary of MLD and chaos abilities.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - Overall, this card is better suited for 60 card whether it be in modern where people are trying figure out how to abuse it with grave troll, or in standard where it is in an interesting spot right now. Delve is a decent although not needed ability as i never like to get rid of the graveyard as it is basically a second hand for you especially since you are playing black. The second ability is what makes Tasigur borderline playable as it allows you to fill your yard/hand.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - Potentially a very scary commander. The deck can go different routes. whether it be ETB/LTB shenanigans with cards like Gray merchant of asphodel, or the on hit effects like master of cruelties.
Yasova Dragonclaw - Yasova's ability has potential to do to crazy things. However it is better to buff her power up by at least 3-4 more points to steal ridiculous things. As there are better commanders in the same colour as her, I would put her in the same catagory as Daghatar
Dragons: (overall these guys are better in a dragon tribal deck with the exception of one or two)
Atarka, World Render - very dangerous as a commander and in dragon tribal decks. Dueling grounds + chump blockers is your best line of defense if you cant remove him.
Dromoka, the Eternal - I feel that this card is kind of lack luster. While 3 unblocked attacks does kill a player, the condition is that Dromoka must be the lowest toughness on your field.
Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury - Dash is hilarious. If you can find a way to reduce costs to cast creatures, you have the potential to have 5 dmg in the air for 2 mana per turn. The scary part of Kolaghan is the "Whenever a dragon" so this isn't restricted to just Kolaghan himself. With conspiracy in his colours, a Goblin token army becomes very scary.
Ojutai, Soul of Winter - In a dragon tribal deck this ability also has the potential to be game ending as you can tap down blocking creatures when you alpha strike a player. Otherwise you tap down annoying permanents with need to untap.
Silumgar, the Drifting Death - Kills all of the defending player's creatures if you have enough creatures attacking. If you don't have a heavy dragon count it is only useful against tokens (screw Freyalise druid tokens)
Cards I'm considering for the deck:
Abzan Runemark - Vigilance is nice but it isnt required.
Sage's Reverie - I feel like this is more of a win more card. If I can draw a large amount of cards off reverie, then I should be in a position that I am killing people. Eidolon of countless battles might be better here if you want a buff
Interesting cards and other things to look out for:
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - Mono brown decks are gonna have a hayday with this card ... there isn't much you can do to stop this other that hoping that Teeg comes down fast enough that he can't be cast. Pithing needle is another card you can consider.
Dragonscale General - Makes things big fast in weenie decks. hopefully they are tapping their creatures through attacking meaning that dueling grounds should be the answer, however if cards like Catapult Master is what they are using to tap their creatures, better have removal ready.
Monastary Mentor - Spell Slinging decks will love this card.
Soulfire Grand Master - this card is ridiculous. I'm not sure if it will be banned or not but im leaning more to the side of yes as it makes time magic too strong.
Sieges - The sieges are decent although not all of them are that strong. I like Monastary siege the best although I can't use it though.
Archfiend of Depravity - Brutal card against most decks but not a problem for Sigarda
Ghastly Conscription - Combine this with cards which flicker for fun results.
Arcbond - add pariah/guilty conscience on an indestructible creature and you can kill all other players the moment the creature takes damage.
Flamerush Rider - it has the potential to abuse etb and ltb abilities, unfortunately it has to attack so its life might be shortlived
Shaman of the Great Hunt - not exactly something that Animar can abuse however it has potential for more interesting results in riku and maelstrom wanderer.
Shamanic Revelation - as if token decks needed more help getting pieces they needed ... this card is accelerant to decks like elfball and other token regurgitation decks.
Harsh Sustenance - 3 mana wincon for ghave
Commander 2014
Overall the Commander 2014 set is pretty fun. New commanders and new cards for both commander and for other formats as well. Cards that Sigarda will be interested in are song of the dryad and containment priest. If walkers are taking over your meta consider using pithing needle and nevermore
New legends in the set:
Nahiri, the Lithomancer – overall this commander is pretty solid. The abilities lend itself to a token swarm however most equipment decks are about the voltron. I guess that the equipment is more along the lines for Kemba with lots of random equipment and then throwing tokens at people. The ulti on her isn’t that special since the stoneforged blade can be exiled.
Jazal Goldmane – Kind of like a white overrun however he doesn’t give trample meaning that your tokens can get chumped all day long. Good as part of the 99 but I wouldn’t play him as the commander.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage – a really walker card which reflects the character from the story. Although Teferi is unlikely to get to the magical 10 outside of a deck which is dedicated to getting him out there, his other abilities are ok. Since blue doesn’t have much in the way of ramp, I wouldn’t worry too much about him.
Stitcher Geralf – I personally don’t really like geralf that much even though he really fits into the Innistrad theme. He is useful for exiling eldrazi or dangerous creatures but the fact that he fills up your enemies’ yard is something that you should be wary of.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath – overall a solid black walker even if his first ability is a bit lacking. Decent in a black good stuff deck but is overshadowed by other commanders which do his job better. Good as part of the 99.
Ghoulcaller Gisa – Overall I find her more appealing than that of her brother. Having a sack outlet is always important especially in black.
Daretti, Scrap Savant – A very solid walker for artifacts even though everyone wished his name started with a “S” and ended with “lobad”. Although I wouldn’t have him as the commander over someone like Kurkesh, Daretti still can hold his own. All his abilities synergize really well and his ultimate is pretty crazy with someone like bosh krark-clan iron works.
Feldon of the Third Path – This sad old man finally has a card which shows a bit of his story. At 3 cmc, he does wonderful things with looters, sac outlets and thornbite staff. He can work in an artifact shell as well since a lot of artifacts can be abused with the ETB and LTB trigger. Prepare to see him in decks.
Freyalise, Llanawar’s Fury – By far one of the most known walkers in the set next to Teferi. In a green deck where 5 mana isn’t that hard to achieve, Freyalise has a whole suite of abilities which tailor to a green decks needs. Inherent ramp, check. Removal for artifacts and enchantments, check. Card draw, check. Overall Freyalise is a very strong walker but get eclipsed by other green commanders such as Azusa, Omnath, and Ezuri. However I would like to see someone build a tribal druid deck around her.
Titania, Protector of Argoth – Another name from the lands of Dominaria, Titania is very strong in landfall decks. Although I could see her command in a lands deck, I feel that she would be better as part of the 99 in maybe a GW deck with the likes of Knight of the Reliquary or in GB with Darkheart of the Woods.
Honorable mentions
White:
Containment Priest – pick them up for cheap if you can as this is the money legacy card of this set. Able to shut down decks like “show and tell”, “reanimator”, and “dredge”, this card deserves atleast a sideboard slot in most decks that have W in it.
Blue:
Reef Worm – with doubling season this card is hilarious. Even on its own it get big quick if you have an outlet.
Black:
infernal offering – of all the offerings which include you and someone else (red offering wtf), this is the ones where symmetry can be avoided.
Necromatic Selection – a wrath combined with a grave betrayal is always nice. The cmc isn’t bad too if you are playing with a big black deck >_O
Overseer of the Damned – anther good card for kalia. Not much else to say about it.
wake the dead - use this to abuse ETB and LTB triggers.
Red:
Dualcaster Mage – Snappy’s relative. Able to combo out with something like twinflame. Pretty good to have a reverb on a stick.
Scrap Mastery – PRAISE URZA!!! Seriously this card is good and anyone who tells you otherwise needs to play against any decent red artifact deck. Living death for artifacts is very abusable. Krark-clan Ironworks all your things before you scrap mastery to reset a lot of stuff or use it just to take out your opponents board state is too good of an offer to resist.
Volcanic Offering – this card doesn’t have the symmetry that the other offering have. It is completely one sided in your favour. However I feel that its mana cost is still high for what it does.
Green:
Gravesifter – watch out for this card in tribal decks as it can ruin your day.
Siege Behemoth – good for alpha striking through blockers, however it is a nonbo with deathtouch.
Song of the Dryads – in a meta where enchantment removal is light, this can be devastating if put on a commander.
Thunderfoot baloth – best of the 5 lietenants. Overrun is always good.
Wave of vitriol – I dislike this card for since it says sac, meaning that it gets around karmic justice. The only way that you can combat it is to have a creeping renaissance or a replenish on hand.
Lands:
Arcane Lighthouse – wizards’ answer to voltron commanders such as uril, sigarda, GoST, and Narset. Prepare to see a lot of these in the first few weeks. Remember to pack land hate like stripmine, tec edge, and ghost quarter to deal with the light house
Artifacts:
Assault Suit – a funny equipment that can be easily abused. Will definitely see play in decks which lack the protection from edicts.
Masterwork of Ingenuity – OH LOOK I NOW HAVE TWO SWORDS OF X AND Y!!! since it’s an equipment, it makes it easier to tutor for.
Khans of Tarkir:
Although the set is very interesting, nothing from the set is able to make it onto the testing list. The green and white colours this set focus more on creatures which help themselves before others or they require +1/+1 counters to help each other. I am happy about the fetchland reprints as windswept heath will make its way into this deck.
Legends in the set:
Surrak Dragonclaw has a chance of being the leader of a few RUG decks however I feel that hes better as part of the 99 in Animar and Wanderer decks. There isn’t much to worry about him except for the card in the deck.
Anafenza, the Foremost is a beast, shutting down opposing reanimator decks is crazy. The fact that she is only cmc 3 is also a boon not to mention the extra counters that she can hand out and also her big body. Again her abilities don’t worry Sigarda too much as much as how the deck she’s part of is played.
Narset, Enlightened Master is also pretty good. Decks that want to abuse Narset will load up on time magic and try to voltron her up and try to kill everyone on the turn that she can attack. If a Narset deck does show up in your area with lots of time magic I recommend using Ugin’s Nexus as well as Eidolon of Rhetoric and/or Rule of Law.
Zurgo Helmsmasher is a fun general to build around but can be super deadly. Just stacking the deck with multiple wrath spells will be enough to make sure that he can get through. Try to make sure you have a way of protecting Sigarda before you try to land her onto the field.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, will probably play similar to The Mimeoplasm. If the deck actually focuses more on the zombie token swarm then a simple dueling grounds or moat will suffice. If the grave reanimator route is taken, ground seal or grafdigger’s cage should be added in to stop those shenanigans.
Other cards to watch in the set are:
End hostilities – Wizard’s way of stopping voltron style builds. If this card see play in your area consider adding Karmic Justice and/or Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Clever Impersonator – a clone for any nonland thing, including planeswalkers. This card will definitely see play in decks which like to run clones.
Bloodsoaked Champion – gravecrawler/reassembling skeleton with more restriction. This card has its uses.
Grim Haruspex – This card is a beast. Will see play in Karador decks, and any other decks which loves to sac of its creatures. Note that it has two downsides. Firstly that the creature must be a nontoken (ghave might not play it) and secondly the draw is a must meaning that there is a possibility of decking yourself out.
Howl of the Horde – will see play in decks which have a high enough concentration of instant and sorceries. Another bone for Riku decks to use.
Sarkhan, the DragonSpeaker – A decent beat stick and removal. However I feel he probably will not be played.
Hardened Scale – Doubling Season super lite. It has its uses in a +1/+1 counter based deck and is super low in its cost.
Rattleclaw Mystic – definitely a decent card in RUG. Able to mana ramp as well as a one-time burst of mana.
See the Unwritten – Green decks new toy, even if it isn’t as strong as G-wave or T&N. It does help in reanimation strategies.
Ascendencies – all the ascendencies have decks which they will be played in as they all have their uses. Azban in decks like Karador for more bodies to pitch, Jeskai in Narset or Zedruu for the untap and the draw, Mardu in Zurgo to provide fodder, Sultai in any bug deck to filter your draws and fill your yard, Temur in RUG decks to add more draw power and the haste (not really needed for wanderer though).
Charms – modes are always nice
Deflecting Palm – becareful of this card as it is possible to kill yourself with the reflected damage. Fortunately the damage is from deflecting palm and not the creature.
Sorin – a good final ability but his + ability is slightly lackluster
Utter End – will probably see play as it exiles and is instant. I would say that it is weaker than vindicate since it doesn’t hit lands.
Villainous Wealth – whoever designed this card is a professional troll. This is a great way for a BUG deck to use its infinite mana. A reverse G-wave ... a great way of killing of people.
Altar of the Brood – a great combo piece and is a mini hedron crab. Can’t wait to see it abused in Patron of the moon decks or decks which spam tokens
Dragon Throne of Tarkir – An overrun ability. Could be great in certain decks but I feel it gets out classed by cards like Craterhoof.
Ugin’s Nexus – Great way of stopping time magic and can be used as time magic in a pinch. Very interesting and is worth picking up a copy or two.
M15:
This set is pretty nice. New Ajani is definitely worth looking at. I feel that most of the auras are over-costed. Compare Marked by Honor to Vow of Duty. For one less you have everything that marked has and even has a pacifism against you ability. Spectral Ward/Prismatic Runeguard or whatever they decide to name. It is a decent card very playable were it not for Teeg. I would personally rather play the 2ww pro creatures though as it gets though artifact and eldrazi creatures. Still worth having just in case they get rid of Teeg. HUSHWING GRYFF is torpor orb #2 and is easier to tutor with out creature tutor spells. Just remember to flash it in in-response to the cast not in response to the creature hitting the battlefield.
Conspiracy:
Wow this set ... so much awesomeness. Not only can I not wait to draft it, I also can't wait to see EDH games with the commanders and variants that use the conspiracies.
Journey Into Nyx:
FAITH IN MAGIC RESTORED. So this set is finally what I have been waiting for (Enchantress, enchantment interaction, awesome g/w walker). Cards to consider are Eidolin of Rhetoric, Skybind, Eidolon of Blossoms, Kruphix's Insight (marginal card but very useful if you can set up your deck), Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.
Born of the Gods:
Well ... now that BNG has been spoiled I can officially say that theros so far has been a disappointment. Although this was an enchantment block, the interactions that I was hoping for were non existant (ie more enchantress abilities). Even Karamentra disappointed me since her ability triggers on creatures being cast instead of enchantments being cast. However notable mentions do include Hero of Iroas (great if you are running alot of auras and is they are high costing), Spirit of the Labyrinth (great for dicking blue decks and their draw and also denies nekusaur), Eidolon of Countless Battles (this card is similar to auramancer's guise and can be alot stronger if you manage to get Sigil of the Empty Throne or some other token maker onto the field. It also circumnavigates Teeg's restriction when bestowing it.)
Commander 2013:
nice to see that Wizards pulled the stops in the reprint and printed some p3k cards however not much in the set interests my deck except for Act of Authority. However I forsee lots Sidri and Derevi decks on cockatrice ... so remember to pack your torpor orbs and stony silences.
Theros:
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^.^
yeah ... enchantment block has me so happy, but being more specific, I am actually very interested in picking up Nylea and her bow for the deck. As for the bestow mechanic, it seems underwhelming since its cost is so high to get a decent boost. if they print one where the cmc of bestow is at most 4, I might consider it.
Magic 2014:
Not much catches my eye other than Primeval Bounty, Ajani's Chosen, and Oath of the Ancient Wood, even then they are mediocre at best
Match ups against generals and archetypes:
Sharuum, the Hegemon:
This match up is all about speed, you want to get torpor orb onto the field as soon as possible and protect it. Stony silence or null rod should follow to stop Sharuum from accelerating further. Aura shards with sigil of the empty throne will take care of annoying artifacts that your opponent will play. Keep a hold of Krosan Grip in case a combo slips through. Possibly side in return to dust, Titania's song to ruin their day
Arcum Dagson:
This match up is similar to the one with Sharuum, however you will want to get one of the following out first: stony silence, null rod, Damping Matrix. Although the artifacts do lose their abilities, use Titania's song carefully as it will give your opponent more fuel for arcum.
Azusa, Lost but Seeking
An annoying commander if they ramp up to terastodon or sylvan primordial quickly (even worse when they hit the tooth and nail. You pray that you get torpor orb for the etb and then moat to shut down the ground army. Add in the aven mindcensor to limit their digging
Kaalia of the Vast
Another build around commander which can be very hard to deal with. Although dueling grounds doesn't stop the creatures that she drops with her abilities, it does limit the attacks after they the hit the field. Torpor orb is almost a must in this match up due to the etb abilities they can abuse (rune-scarred demon, angel of dispair, karmic guide, and many others). This match up is very dependent on the ramp, meaning who can hit their big spells first, so null rod and stony silence is also useful in this match up. Sideboard in vow of wildness to stop kaalia from attacking you.
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
BBBMBC Shirei StyleBBB
URUNiv-Mizzet, Warp WorldURU
BGRKresh the BloodbraidedBGR
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
1.You don't seem to be playing a lot of ramp. One card I liked was Khalni Heart Expedition because it ramped and worked with my Enchantresses.
2. No Sun Titan? Sure, the ETB gets hosed if you have Torpor Orb out, but it's exellent for your enchantment recursion.
3. Why aren't you playing Rabid Wombat? Ok, so I only played it because it was funny as crap, but on a more serious note, it seems that if Siggy gets too expensive or tucked you just twiddle your thumbs and draw cards unless the stars align and you get one of your few outs to get back in the game. At least, that was my experience.
Also, I love the use of Torpor Orb and Null Rod. If I rebuild Uril ever, I'll have to look into those.
Did anything in Dragons Maze catch your eye for the deck?
Misc. EDH Stuff: Commander Cube | Zombies (Horde)
Resources:Commander Rulings FAQ | Commander Deckbuilding Guide
Follow me on Twitter! @cryogen_mtg
Hi cryogen, thanks for your input it is greatly appreciated.
1. I feel that I hit my land drops with enchantress and burgeoning, but I am trying to find a card in the deck to replace with exploration. I do like khalni heart exposition but its requirement of 2 lands means that if I do play it down turn two then I have to hit another piece of ramp in order to get it off on turn 3. And if I get it activated on turn 4 I still have to wait till turn 5 for the lands to untap.
2. I do like sun titan but there are several problems. I don't have any flicker or bounce or recursion abilities. Secondly my meta has a lot of bribery and control magic. I think that I will add it to the cards to consider list because it is useful, but for now, it isn't that useful for my meta
3. I do like rabbit wombat, but I would rather play aura gnarlid or Yavimaya enchantress. Since aura gnarlid is "unblockable", its easier to send someone into the red zone than it is with wombat. I feel enchantress might be better than wombat since it counts all enchantments on the battlefield.
As for dgm, I think that the only card that caught my eye is unflinching courage.
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Unless you plan on going a beatdown route, I found the life gain from Faith Healer a lot more relevant than Auratog.
Journey to Nowhere is really good. It has the same trick as Oblivion Ring with a sacrifice outlet, but it's also General hate since most people won't exile their General with it, instead opting to send it back to the command zone.
Indestructibility is pretty strong with Sigarda. I'd look into including Avacyn, Angel of Hope and any decent totem armor.
City of Solitute is meh. I'd rather run Crop Rotation or other ways to get Cavern of Souls into play.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite will stifle token strategies, which might be a weakness.
I would nix Open the Vaults. You've already got a lot of recursion, including multiple mass recursion options, and you whiff on half of the card. Not to mention OtV effects your opponents, whereas the other ones don't. On the same vein, Rites of Flouishing seems tempting, but the global application is unnecessary especially since you've already got 2 doublers that effect only you. If you really want another one, I'd consider Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger instead despite being a creature instead of an enchantment.
I'd probably run Scavengin Ooze, Stonecloaker, Wheel of Sun and Moon or Rest in Peace as graveyard hate, which you don't really have right now.
I might include a more 'permanent' sweeper in case of emergencies, Final Judgment, Terminus or Hallowed Burial all being good options. If you want one that's an enchantment, look into Parallax Wave or Planar Collapse.
I second the Khalni Heart Expedition suggestion. Awakening Zone is also good enchantment ramp. I'd probably also run Sakura-Tribe Elder as well.
Sphere of Safety is much better than Dueling Grounds here.
Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest is a good 'infinite' combo in case Plan A doesn't pan out. Plus they're both good on their own. (Earthcraft is ramp when you have creatures out, plus dodges Winter Orb type effects, Squirrel Nest provides chump blockers and can consistently trigger Aura Shards)
I would highly recommend Titania's Song in a deck like this.
Anyway, that should be enough information to process for now. Good luck!
Thanks ^.^ as for the M14 Rules, I appreciate it very much, it means that I don't have to fear blue decks as much, however it does mean that their combos are getting stronger. I will be hoping that I can find some way to combat their combos better.
Thanks for the advice ^.^ this deck is more on the style of beat down than it is combo as a result, I do prefer using auratog than faith healer. another reason i prefer auratog is because the only enchantment I want to sacrifice is rancor so if I use Faith Healer, it becomes G: Gain 1 life and draw a card for every enchantress.
Journey is a good card however it doesn't hit artifacts and enchantments, which is why I prefer O-ring. More often than not, I use it to hit problem artifacts and enchantments and let whoever else is playing do a wipe or spot removal
Indestructibility falls under the 4+ mana aura category, it is a good card, however I feel that with 3 ways of stopping wraths in the deck (teeg, flickerform, and Shield of the oversoul) and all of them tutorable, just having something to provide indestructibility and nothing else feels like a bit of a waste. however if i do remove something for it, it would probably be unquestioned authority.
As for Avacyn, she makes me a big lightning rod. However that is not the problem, rather its her mana cost and card type which makes me shy away from her. The name of the game for this deck is speed and avacyn isn't much of a jet but rather she is one of the planes that the Wright brothers used. If she were an enchantment then I might run her but right now she feels a little to vulnerable. I would actually run eldrazi monument over avacyn and sac sigil tokens to pay for it.
The thing with cavern is that it only protects sigarda, and therein lies my gripe with running crop rotation over city. For the small price of not casting during other people's turn, I can go on casting sprees and not give a hoot about what other people can do.
for token strats, moat + dueling grounds shuts down almost all of them barring a select few, which i would have folded to even if i used Elesh Norn instead
I am considering cutting open the vaults and/or rites of flourishing right now but the cards that are up for substitution are still in the paper theory stages. cards that i am considering to replace the two are gaea's touch, mana reflection, and nostalgic dreams. Again with Vorinclex, the argument against Avacyn is applied here.
out of the 4 grave hates that you mentioned i feel that the only ones that i would use are stonecloaker and wheel of sun and moon. wheel doubles as a anti-mill which one of my friends has been trying to build without much success and stonecloaker can protect Sigarda if i dont have flickerform out. These cards will go on the testing list as a replacement for OtV and Rites
of the permanent sweepers, the only one i would probably run is final judgement. Terminus and hallowed mean that i have use a tutor for Sigarda
and parallax wave only hits 5 and i have to have auratog out to abuse it.
As i mentioned before, the name of the game is speed, the only way to trigger khalni on turn 3 is to hit ramp or a fetchland.
I didnt think of Awakening zone, it will go on the testing list.
as for the elder, I have no forms of recursion so its a rampant growth that might chump block at best. I run kodama's reach and explore over these is because it can guarantee me with 5 lands on turn 4 which no other <4 mana ramp spell that I know of can do
The thing with sphere is that people can still pay to attack with many tokens which is a problem. With dueling grounds, I can guarantee that only one will be attacking and i can chump that one attacker with an angel or Sigarda or even let it through if it isn't that scary. Combining Dueling Grounds with Moat sets up even more of a restriction for my opponents. If my opponents get annoyed enough to remove dueling grounds, then they open the flood gates of 4/4 flying angels. I have had games where my opponents had ways of removing dueling grounds but didnt because they knew that i could kill them with angels the next turn (i still killed them with Sigarda though)
For earthcraft and squirrel's nest, i would either run them together or non at all. both i feel are ok cards however they feel too narrow for me. Squirrel's nest only provides one aura shard trigger a turn and the earthcraft only untaps a basic land (of course i can untap an enchanted basic land but thats beside the point)
i have never seen this card and will get one for a sideboard against sharuum or any artifact base bwahahahahahahahaha ^.^
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
We don't to often agree, and today is sadly no different(though I was about to until i relooked at the primer) I like the content, Test log is interesting though, might have to try it out for some of my threads. Also Congrats on Primer Status!
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Lightmine field is a good substitute if you can't afford the cards and you know that the tokens that your opponent is churning out are not damage protected and are of low toughness.
Ghostly prison, and its cousin sphere of safety are also good substitutes if your opponents are short on mana
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
I'm only missing Mirari's Wake , and I feel this deck is pretty much complete, aside from land base.
For m14 I am trying Into the Wilds out aswell as Ajani's Chosen. So far neither have been terrible. What are your thoughts in oath, the csrd that gives +1+1 to creatures when it and other enchantments etb. I feel its better in swarm strats though.
The deck is solid usually hitting t7-8 kills. t2 sfm leads into some silly stuff.
EDH Decks
Thanks To DarkNightCavalier For the Sig!!!
If you are going to use Into the Wilds, you might want to enable it a bit more. I see you have Sylvan Library, but why not also add Mirri's Guile. Adding Fetch lands will also help mix up the top when you have both.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
personally i dont like the large number of high cmc enchantments as teeg goes against it (i tutor for teeg as soon as possible to prevent wraths and other shenanigans).
also since you dont have much ramp, how do you counter fast ramping decks? do you let them run rampant, punish them, or try to out ramp them?
i feel that luminarch ascension is not that good of an idea as it paints a big target on your head.
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
Which Sigarda type deck do you feel would be the most competitive against this?
++
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
I would suggest using the enchantress or the voltron decklist as a starting point and to modify as needed
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
Unfortunately Kei Takahashi only prevents 2 damage dealt to creatures, not creatures and players he is worse than Emmara Tandris.
Another small error:
Really nice primer
What do you think of Kor Spiritdancer as an alternative enchantress? She only draws cards off auras but you do play a quite few of those.
thanks for catching the mistakes ^.^
as for spiritdancer she is a good enchantress since i run a lot of auras but she is also another wincon for me as i can load her up with auras and go to town
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
EDH
GWSigarda, Host of EnchantressGW[Primer]
Couple cards that I haven't seen any discussion over and I also didn't see on the list:
Don't know if these are just something I missed a page or 2 down, or if it's a $ issue. Just staples that I didn't see a mention of.
Thanks again for the list!
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[Primer]WIsamaru, the Howling BladeW[Primer]
[Primer]BGSkullbriar: From Life, Death Eternal (1v1)GB[Primer]
BGRbighaben and Feverous' Prossh, Skyraider of KherRGB
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Aven Mindcensor is nice and all, but can be removed and only is a small annoyance. It could prevent a person from searching in a turn, but I do not see it happening more than that. It does not add board presence or a threat. People can play around it easily.
Sol Ring and SDT - our own enchantments (and some artifacts) shut these down hard. (Damping Matrix, Null Rod, Stony Silence).
Land tax is a great card. I enjoy it. It is a great ramp card, but only thins out your deck - does not tutor, increase CA, or create library manipulation.
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
I can't help but disagree on the Mindcensor. Against a mono-green deck it almost completely shuts them down by limiting the tutors they have available, and most of the green decks I know run almost nothing but. (Sylvan, Tooth and Nail, Skyshroud, Cultivate, Worldly Tutor, Natural Order, etc. etc.) I have literally seen this single card bring the game to a screeching halt for more than half the board. It stops any combo that requires a tutor, it can be done in response to someone trying to find a piece they desperately need, you can do it in response to a fetch and basically nuke a land ... I've been playing in the format more than half a decade now and this card is the stones, without question. Every single deck in the format plays a massive amount of tutors. At the very worst this card reads "2:symw: ; Put a 2/1 flying creature in play: Prevent target opponent from finding that land/piece/ramp they wanted, and make another opponent discard a removal spell" That's one of the better 3 for 1's in the game., and all for 3 cmc? o.o
When it comes to Top/Sol Ring, you're saying that you don't run the best mana accel in the format and the best library manipulation in the format because you also run 1 1/2 cards that nullify them? (Damping Matrix doesn't hit the Sol Ring) That's like saying you're not going to run lands because you play Armageddon. Not necessarily trying to sound cheeky, but that argument doesn't hold water. I won't say there's a required list of staples that go in every deck, but if there was such a list Top and Ring would literally be #1 and #2 on said list, There's a reason they're played in every single edh deck ever constructed. Being able to T3 Sigarda is huge, especially if you're in an aggro matchup and just need to get her out a little faster.
as to the Land Tax... I mean, it does create CA in the fact that it puts more cards in your hand, which can be useful. With a Scroll Rack it's a 1 colorless cmc Ancestrall Recall every turn, but obviously rack isn't on this list either. It just seems that an Enchantress type deck would play arguably to most efficient 1 cmc enchantment white ever had printed for it. At the very least it's thinning out the deck and making sure you hit the land drops every turn. The OP said the deck really needs it's mana, and this lets you come back a little quicker after an Armageddon effect as well.
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[Primer]WIsamaru, the Howling BladeW[Primer]
[Primer]BGSkullbriar: From Life, Death Eternal (1v1)GB[Primer]
BGRbighaben and Feverous' Prossh, Skyraider of KherRGB
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Thanks for your input and as for mindcensor, I have considered it as part of the silver bullet list but haven't really put much thought into it as there is a guy at my meta who likes to grab stranglehold in his zedruu deck.
As for the mana rocks, I often tutor for the stony silence because I see ay too much equipment. Another reason that I don't use rocks are the fact that they don't trigger enchantress. After on of the artifact locks come out, they become dead draws. If you look at my list, I don't run any artifacts with activated abilities even though it might do the deck well.
As for the land tax, I have considered it and used it in the early months when this deck was being built. I believe it got removed on favor of burgeoning which became exploration. Undoubtedly I should rethink about putting it back in and I probably will or at the very least put it into the card options list
EDH
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