"I once saw the Obzedat moved to action. Since that day, I've been thankful that they're mainly lazy, and dead."
—Aurelia, to Gideon Jura
Banner made by Xenphire over at Inkfox Aesthetics. Go check them out!
The Obzedat (the Ghost Council of Orzhova) is the ruling body of the Orzhov Syndicate. It consists of ghosts of the former Orzhov patriarchs and (though significantly less frequently) matriarchs, who ascended to the immortal ghost level. It resides deep under the Orzhov district in the central Ravnica. It is possible that the founders of the Obzedat were the Orzhov representatives who originally signed the Guildpact, or that they were just the ones who lived during that time. Membership of the Obzedat is granted for an excellent "performance" in life, but the entrance is subject to a probation period. The membership can be also canceled under exceptional conditions.
The ability to fly under the radar. People will usually dismiss your general as bad, or "lol go back to standard!!" Use that to your advantage.
B/W, Orzhov, is great color combination. Removal, a surprising number of stack interaction, and lots and lots of recursion. Did I mention a lot of removal?
Resiliency and the ability to adapt to nearly any situation.
You like generals that compliments the deck, not run it.
Why you wouldn't want to play Obzedat:
You absolutely need in your decks
You want to smash face with big creatures
You want to win with a swarm of creatures
You want a super fast deck
You or your meta don't like or use LD, locks, etc
Other Orzhov Generals
Ghost Council of Orzhova-The first and original Ghost Dad. A great choice for a general. Fits more of a combo deck shell, but is still a great option. Check out Blackjack's primer if you're more interested in this route.
Selenia, Dark Angel-Awesome art work and amazing flavor. Bounce ability is nice to avoid removal, but a little over-costed for me. Obligatory mention of Near Death Experience.
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts-The newest-oldest of the available commanders. Teysa got a remake in Dragon's Maze, and say what you will, I think she's a pretty awesome pillowfort commander. In a pillowfortish deck not meant to run on low/no lands, I could see her shine. A little too expensive here.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion-An amazing combo general. So many interactions you can do with her ability. Also exiling on command is really
pretty awesome.
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter-Another really powerful commander. A 5/5 Flying lifelinker that can grow bigger, save himself from tuck, or remove problem creatures is nothing to scoff at. But his cmc is just too high for this type of deck.
I've been playing Magic since around Planeshift and Invasion. I never seriously played, only buying the cards because I thought they had cool artwork. I stopped buying them and having an interest in magic all together after only a few months. However, during Rise of the Eldrazi and Zendikar myself and a few friends came back, starting with 60 card casual and moving into commander. Now I play Modern, Legacy, and Commander.
I play with a loooooot of G/X decks, big ramp/swarm strategies. As such you'll notice a lot more spot removal and wraths than usual. These are necessary to survive and have a fighting chance. There's a surprising absence of combo. Not because its frowned upon, or because people don't like it, more because people just don't feel like playing that certain strategy. Also our fair share of reanimator shenanigans going on as well.
Strategem:
Early:
As I stated in the "Why you wouldn't play" section, this deck is not super fast. An opening hand should have ideally 3 lands, 1-2 rocks, either an enchantment, creature or artifact that will keep you alive, and a wrath/piece of spot removal. Don't seem like too much of a threat until you can back yourself up, put up some defenses, or punish your opponents. This obviously changes if you know you're opponents are all combo, then you try to aim for as much disruption as possible. A Torpor Orb, Cursed Totem, Nether Void, etc will really hurt most decks, even completely shut them out. This will be explained more in the card choices section.
Mid:
So its midway through the game now. Combos have been stopped, you've wiped the board or lands, your Torpor Orb is really screwing over someone's day, etc. This is where you try to either set up enough prison cards or blow the lands and try to seal the game. If that's not an option, keep whittling away at your opponents.
Late:
This is it. The final stretches. By now your opponents should be completely spent. You either finish them off with: Vommander damage, a forced scoop, or continue beats with your creatures. If you can squeeze through a Replenish here you are usually golden. This is also where the planeswalkers can really help you out.
Key Synergies, MVPS
As expected, Sun Titan is an all star. With a low cmc, he can recur a lot of key pieces to the deck.
Meekstone stops opponents while Obzedat doesn't even care, making it usually 1 sided.
Nether Void is really just insane. Armageddon and then slamming down Nether Void is usually GG.
+=Best friends forever
Explanation of Individual Card Choices
Lands:
Important to any deck, lands help you play things and keep you going. The norm for a land count is, in my opinion, 34-37. This of course changes depending on what deck your playing. You may have more rocks, more land (Azusa), or a specific strategy may affect this number. The lands in this deck are pretty basic, being 2 color and all.
Bojuka Bog-Taps for colored mana, and hates on graveyards. Whats not to like?
Buried Ruin-Gets back crucible, which gets back buried ruin..yeah seems good. Also recurs our other artifacts, mainly hate pieces that get blown up.
Command Tower-Taps for both colors and enters untapped. Staple.
Flagstones of Trokair-Taps for colored mana, and helps us recover after we blow the lands.
Meekstone-This card is amazing. It stops so many attackers, and because your general flickers every turn, he comes in untapped and avoids the drawback. Draws you extreme hate, however, so beware.
Skullclamp-One of the better draw engines in the format. We run enough tokens to support it and ensure a steady flow of cards.
Sol Ring-The quintessential commander card. Ramp pure and simple.
Sword of War and Peace-Utility card that protects our creatures from removal while generating insane value. Makes any creature or token an immediate threat.
Torpor Orb-Granddaddy of all hate cards. This card hoses so many decks, especially ones with poor building that don't include any non-creature answers. A true all star.
Creatures
These guys either help us close the game, deal with opponents resources, or just get in the damage.
Braids, Cabal Minion-Headache for our opponents if we can get this out early enough. Is fed by our token producers.
Dimir House Guard-Realized how saturated the 4 cmc slot is, this card opens up toolbox possibilities. Also on demand sac outlet if needed.
Grave Titan-Defensive creature that brings friends with him.
Martyr's Cause-On demand sac outlet that can soak damage if we sac a token to it.
Nether Void-Amazing amazing card. Really takes over games. Worth noting it WILL counter Krosan Grip, because it's a triggered ability that gets around split second.
Necromancy-Little bit of instant speed reanimation, does funny things with Sun Titan.
No Mercy- You still get dealt damage, but deters people from swinging important guys at you.
Oblivion Ring-Catch all removal, although not permanent.
Armageddon-Keeps ramp decks in check, and gives you an edge. Knowing when to use this spell effectively takes practice. It's also worth it to note that before using, its usually a good idea to stockpile a land or two in hand, or some ramp to help you bounce back.
9/27
-1 Dark Confidant
+1 Land Tax
I felt with Dark Tutelage already, we didn't need to hurt ourselves anymore, especially with Confidant's "liability" of being a creature. Tax lowers the avg cmc and helps us recover after a wipe/hit land drops.
-1 Angel of Despair
+1 Vampiric Tutor
Lowering the avg cmc, and adding another tutor to our arsenal.
-1 Night's Whisper
+1 Read the Bones
A strict upgrade, I feel.
-1 Call to the Grave
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Call was always kinda meh when played. Elspeth is just awesome.
-1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
+1 Heliod, God of the Sun
One token producer for another, also lower cmc.
-1 Wayfarer's Bauble
+1 Nihil Spellbomb
I love Bauble, but I was at a loss on what else to cut here. Needed some more grave hate, and the cantrip is nice.
-1 Loxodon Gatekeeper
+1 Hero's Downfall
Downfall is just too good not to run. Loxodon has felt win-more lately.
That's really all I see from Theros. Agree? Disagree?
This is where I list to you all the replacement cards you could swap in and out. It is my firm belief that if you play with or are a person that hates MLD, stax, locks, etc, then you'd need to rework this deck at the core, and it would be a very different deck. That's why, instead of listing other cards, I will guide you to lists I feel accomplish other goals, while remaining in the same colors. They are as follows:
ISBPathfinder has an amazing Obzedat deck based on using life to gain great card advantage and effects. Here
Schondetta has a great life drain/combo primer, headed by Teysa and abu/using her abilities. Here
Blackjack68 has a great primer of the original Ghost Council. Here
Gelf also has a sweet Vish Kal list based on bleeding your oponents out Here
Cabz built an awesome reanimaty control list found here.
I like the idea of Desolation Angel + Cataclysm in this sort of deck assuming you are willing to go there in the first place. I really wish my own playgroup would allow me to get away with playing these effects lol. I think that Catastrophe is more versatile but I would rather have the option to hit the button for cheap.
I like the idea of Desolation Angel + Cataclysm in this sort of deck assuming you are willing to go there in the first place. I really wish my own playgroup would allow me to get away with playing these effects lol.
Kismet seems like something you are missing as well.
Hey thanks for the suggestions. Yeah my group is pretty open lol, I guess im sort of lucky.
Angel/Catastrophe: I feel geddon is enough for now, I oddly haven't needed more. Also they're a bit higher on the curve. Although the angel is a flying beater as well.
I know someone was going to bring up the priest. He's actually been working out REALLY well for me, plus he gets bonus flavor points. He's one of the ultimate rattlesnakes, and can also grab some equipment and go to town if I need. I've had him equipped, and pinged him with my Sword of Fire and Ice trigger to blow stuff up on command, its pretty fun heh. If my deck was as heavy into lifegain as your version, I could definitely see this swap though.
Seal/Capsule: Mainly because capsule can be recurred with Salvaging Station. Thats it really lol.
Do you think Kismet should go in, even though I have Loxodon Gatekeeper and Blind Obedience already? I was thinking it was overkill, but I could be wrong.
Do you think Kismet should go in, even though I have Loxodon Gatekeeper and Blind Obedience already? I was thinking it was overkill, but I could be wrong.
When I was typing that up you still had Imposing Sovereign in the list and I was thinking it would be better than that. I still think its better than the Gatekeeper who is going to be more fragile than it.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
When I was typing that up you still had Imposing Sovereign in the list and I was thinking it would be better than that. I still think its better than the Gatekeeper who is going to be more fragile than it.
Ah I see. Yeah Sovereign was definitely the weaker of those effects. Gatekeeper can also chump, be equipped or clamped as well. Though maybe I am being paranoid about having equipment but no bodies to put it on. Warrants some thinking.
Personally, I feel like you are putting too much weight behind Salvaging Station currently. Its one artifact in the deck but you are including not so keen things like Sunbeam Spellbomb / Origin Spellbomb to try to make it work. In general, these sort of cards I am willing to run assuming those cards that support it are already good adds for the deck but I feel like you are going out of your way to include a package to make it work.
Night's Whisper I have always been a little unimpressed by the draw 2 loose 2 cards. Its just my own personal thoughts but depending on how much mass LD you want to run its good to have cheap draw.
You forgot to add Flagstones of Trokair to the list too. If you are willing to run Armageddon its worth adding flagstones too.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Personally, I feel like you are putting too much weight behind Salvaging Station currently. Its one artifact in the deck but you are including not so keen things like Sunbeam Spellbomb / Origin Spellbomb to try to make it work. In general, these sort of cards I am willing to run assuming those cards that support it are already good adds for the deck but I feel like you are going out of your way to include a package to make it work.
Night's Whisper I have always been a little unimpressed by the draw 2 loose 2 cards. Its just my own personal thoughts but depending on how much mass LD you want to run its good to have cheap draw.
You forgot to add Flagstones of Trokair to the list too. If you are willing to run Armageddon its worth adding flagstones too.
Yeah...you're probably right. Maybe I am trying too hard to make it work. Flagstones is a good call though and an oversight on my part. I just have to find one.
That banner is crazy lol. Xenphire outdid himself again.
Yeah, he's really awesome.
In other news, a lot of changes:
-Salvaging Station
-Dispeller's Capsule
-Executioner's Capsule
-Scrabbling Claws
-Origin Spellbomb
-Well of Lost Dreams
-Sunbeam Spellbomb
+Grave Pact
+Seal of Cleansing
+Seal of Doom
+ Withered Wretch
+Reveillark
+Karmic Guide
+Angel of Despair
Well. Huuuuge updates to the op. Trying to really clean up and organize the post and submit it in a months time. Looking for feedback on the following cards to fit in:
I was just stopping by to check out the primer before I head to bed, so I won't touch on the cards in question (quite yet), but I will say that I think Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth should be in almost every deck that plays Black. Effectively eliminating the possibility of being short on Black mana is a very powerful thing, especially since in EDH so much of what Black plays are double or triple Black mana.
I was just stopping by to check out the primer before I head to bed, so I won't touch on the cards in question (quite yet), but I will say that I think Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth should be in almost every deck that plays Black. Effectively eliminating the possibility of being short on Black mana is a very powerful thing, especially since in EDH so much of what Black plays are double or triple Black mana.
Hey, thanks for the kind words and stopping by. Yeah, U,ToY should definitely be in here. Just a matter of finding one irl :/.
-Swamp
-Sword of Feast and Famine
-Stoneforge Mystic
-Helm of Obedience
-Sword of Fire and Ice
+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
+Braids, Cabal Minion
+Dimir House Guard
+Martyr's Cause
+Magus of the Abyss
I wanted to rely less on equipment, hoping to even include Null Rod in the future, so naturally mystic was out. I traded Helm, which isnt THAT great by itself, for Martyr's Cause which is good as a stand alone. Also noticed I had a lot of 4 drops, so Dimir House Guard was a no brainer. Also ironically added 2 more 4 drops in Braids and Magus. I bumped up the avg CMC a little which is unfortunate, but that will balance out in time. Also still wanting to fit in Cataclysm and Catastrophe, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Meekstone it sort of works.... and it sort of doesn't work that well in my opinion. It just has sort of mixed results for me. Also, you should potentially consider Arena of the Ancients as a potential substitute for this card as the fact that it taps down legends when it comes in can be very useful and it keeps legendary lands tapped down which is really great lol (screw cradle). It also misses obzedat for the most part since he keeps flickering.
Angel of Despair I find it a lot less impressive in a deck not designed to abuse creatures. For me, its honestly a 7 mana vindicate that mostly backfires with all the clones and briberies that run about. I stopped running it outside of creature abuse decks.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa vanilla beaters are very questionable. Especially since you are trying to go stax I think there are much better things that he could turn into such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel which enable stax much better.
High Priest of Penance same as blood barron to me. I would rather have something that positively interacts with stax if such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel assuming you are going heavier stax as your direction.
Sacred Mesa being that you are going stax I think this looses a lot of its potential. It takes a lot of mana to keep it up and considering it eats a token itself at beginning of turn I think considering swapping it into like Elspeth Tirel or something might pay off better.
Seal of Doom doom blade is not impressive, nor is this. I get that you can get it back but its still meh to me.
Debt to the Deathless going stax means operating on a lower mana curve. Paying big x isnt as much of an option so I would cut this.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Meekstone it sort of works.... and it sort of doesn't work that well in my opinion. It just has sort of mixed results for me. Also, you should potentially consider Arena of the Ancients as a potential substitute for this card as the fact that it taps down legends when it comes in can be very useful and it keeps legendary lands tapped down which is really great lol (screw cradle). It also misses obzedat for the most part since he keeps flickering.
Angel of Despair I find it a lot less impressive in a deck not designed to abuse creatures. For me, its honestly a 7 mana vindicate that mostly backfires with all the clones and briberies that run about. I stopped running it outside of creature abuse decks.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa vanilla beaters are very questionable. Especially since you are trying to go stax I think there are much better things that he could turn into such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel which enable stax much better.
High Priest of Penance same as blood barron to me. I would rather have something that positively interacts with stax if such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel assuming you are going heavier stax as your direction.
Sacred Mesa being that you are going stax I think this looses a lot of its potential. It takes a lot of mana to keep it up and considering it eats a token itself at beginning of turn I think considering swapping it into like Elspeth Tirel or something might pay off better.
Seal of Doom doom blade is not impressive, nor is this. I get that you can get it back but its still meh to me.
Debt to the Deathless going stax means operating on a lower mana curve. Paying big x isnt as much of an option so I would cut this.
Thanks again for the thoughts.
Meekstone-This card has saved my butt more times than not in my experience. I don't think i'd want to remove it, however your suggestion of Arena is actually pretty good. I forgot that card existed tbh.
Angel-You're probably right here. Think this could be Desolation Angel's spot?
Blood Baron/High Priest-While these are somewhat, pet cards. I knew they would be some of the more controversial choices. But I stand by them. They work out surprisingly well.
Mesa-Huh, I've never really had trouble keeping it. I'll keep a close eye on it and make a note when something like Elspeth or Mobilization wouldn't have been better.
Seal-More of a meta call then I guess. I face a lot of Gruul/selesnya generals and creatures that need to be removed asap.
Debt-You're right, I thought it'd work out but it just hasn't. Seems like a good swap for Cataclysm.
Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated seeing as we seem to share a lot of the same generals lol :).
You should consider Academy Rector, since you have plenty of juicy targets for her.
She was something I was considering. The lack of reliable sac outlets is a little annoying, but yeah she should probably be in here. Now to find one :X
Meekstone-This card has saved my butt more times than not in my experience. I don't think i'd want to remove it, however your suggestion of Arena is actually pretty good. I forgot that card existed tbh.
Angel-You're probably right here. Think this could be Desolation Angel's spot?
Blood Baron/High Priest-While these are somewhat, pet cards. I knew they would be some of the more controversial choices. But I stand by them. They work out surprisingly well.
Mesa-Huh, I've never really had trouble keeping it. I'll keep a close eye on it and make a note when something like Elspeth or Mobilization wouldn't have been better.
Seal-More of a meta call then I guess. I face a lot of Gruul/selesnya generals and creatures that need to be removed asap.
Debt-You're right, I thought it'd work out but it just hasn't. Seems like a good swap for Cataclysm.
Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated seeing as we seem to share a lot of the same generals lol :).
Desolation Angel probably is a better call over Angel of Despair. They clearly arent there for the same purpose but you should be able to run away with a game by cutting off the landbase and having Obzedat + the angel in play. On the flip side though, equipment becomes really solid once you cut off lands but you just cut most of your equipment package lol.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Desolation Angel probably is a better call over Angel of Despair. They clearly arent there for the same purpose but you should be able to run away with a game by cutting off the landbase and having Obzedat + the angel in play. On the flip side though, equipment becomes really solid once you cut off lands but you just cut most of your equipment package lol.
Yeah...maybe add more stax pieces? I was also thinking to add some reanimation (necromancy, animate dead) but I thought it might dilute the deck. Kinda in a rut right now :/. Also realized Humility should probably be in here.
Necromancy is a really solid card in my opinion because it is instant speed optional and can rez from anyone's graveyard. I love it too in combination with Sun Titan for some fun shenanigans.
Humility - it seems a little difficult because it does stop Obzedat and a lot of your creature based stax effects. I love the card but I dont know if this is neccesarily the right deck for it. You dont have that much token based stuff in general and your creatures still seem to be ETB or over time value based making it sort of awkward with them. Great card, I don't know if its the right deck to use it though.
Yawgmoth's Will - I noticed you don't run yag will. Its probably something to consider as you can recover a lot of really great utility cards in one shot. It lets you play a land from the grave too which is always useful.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Necromancy is a really solid card in my opinion because it is instant speed optional and can rez from anyone's graveyard. I love it too in combination with Sun Titan for some fun shenanigans.
Humility - it seems a little difficult because it does stop Obzedat and a lot of your creature based stax effects. I love the card but I dont know if this is neccesarily the right deck for it. You dont have that much token based stuff in general and your creatures still seem to be ETB or over time value based making it sort of awkward with them. Great card, I don't know if its the right deck to use it though.
Yawgmoth's Will - I noticed you don't run yag will. Its probably something to consider as you can recover a lot of really great utility cards in one shot. It lets you play a land from the grave too which is always useful.
Oh don't get me wrong. I love Necro, I just wasn't sure if it was too goodstuff or not. I've had problems lately where I just through X card in a deck because its good, and it ends up having no synergy wiht the list. Could be right on Humility, I have enough hate already that doesnt hurt my commander. Yawgwin could potentially be awesome. I'll keep an eye out for one to test.
"I once saw the Obzedat moved to action. Since that day, I've been thankful that they're mainly lazy, and dead."
—Aurelia, to Gideon Jura
Known members of Obzedat included patriarchs Enezesku, Xil Xaxosz, Vuliev, and Karlov. Taken from the MTG Salvation Wiki
Why them? Why play Obzedat?:
Why you wouldn't want to play Obzedat:
Other Orzhov Generals
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Lands (36)
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Godless Shrine
1 High Market
1 Marsh Flats
14 Plains
1 Scrubland
1 Serra's Sanctum
11 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
Artifacts (9)
1 Cursed Totem
1 Meekstone
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Torpor Orb
Creatures (11)
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Grave Titan
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 High Priest of Penance
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Magus of the Abyss
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Withered Wretch
1 Aura of Silence
1 Bitterblossom
1 Blind Obedience
1 Contamination
1 Dark Tutelage
1 Grave Pact
1 Karmic Justice
1 Land Tax
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Martyr's Cause
1 Necromancy
1 Nether Void
1 No Mercy
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Planar Collapse
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Seal of Doom
1 Seal of Cleansing
Instants (9)
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Go for the Throat
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Mortify
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tithe
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Armageddon
1 Austere Command
1 Cataclysm
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Read the Bones
1 Replenish
1 Rout
1 Terminus
1 Wrath of God
1 Yagmoth's Will
Planeswalkers (4)
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Lilian of the Dark Realms
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Deckstats
Yess,let the hate flow through you..
I've been playing Magic since around Planeshift and Invasion. I never seriously played, only buying the cards because I thought they had cool artwork. I stopped buying them and having an interest in magic all together after only a few months. However, during Rise of the Eldrazi and Zendikar myself and a few friends came back, starting with 60 card casual and moving into commander. Now I play Modern, Legacy, and Commander.
I play with a loooooot of G/X decks, big ramp/swarm strategies. As such you'll notice a lot more spot removal and wraths than usual. These are necessary to survive and have a fighting chance. There's a surprising absence of combo. Not because its frowned upon, or because people don't like it, more because people just don't feel like playing that certain strategy. Also our fair share of reanimator shenanigans going on as well.
Strategem:
Early:
As I stated in the "Why you wouldn't play" section, this deck is not super fast. An opening hand should have ideally 3 lands, 1-2 rocks, either an enchantment, creature or artifact that will keep you alive, and a wrath/piece of spot removal. Don't seem like too much of a threat until you can back yourself up, put up some defenses, or punish your opponents. This obviously changes if you know you're opponents are all combo, then you try to aim for as much disruption as possible. A Torpor Orb, Cursed Totem, Nether Void, etc will really hurt most decks, even completely shut them out. This will be explained more in the card choices section.
Mid:
So its midway through the game now. Combos have been stopped, you've wiped the board or lands, your Torpor Orb is really screwing over someone's day, etc. This is where you try to either set up enough prison cards or blow the lands and try to seal the game. If that's not an option, keep whittling away at your opponents.
Late:
This is it. The final stretches. By now your opponents should be completely spent. You either finish them off with: Vommander damage, a forced scoop, or continue beats with your creatures. If you can squeeze through a Replenish here you are usually golden. This is also where the planeswalkers can really help you out.
Key Synergies, MVPS
Important to any deck, lands help you play things and keep you going. The norm for a land count is, in my opinion, 34-37. This of course changes depending on what deck your playing. You may have more rocks, more land (Azusa), or a specific strategy may affect this number. The lands in this deck are pretty basic, being 2 color and all.
Artifacts:
The artifacts we use here mainly serve 2 purposes: Ramp, and utility.
Creatures
These guys either help us close the game, deal with opponents resources, or just get in the damage.
Enchantments
The enchantments we use provide us with a broad range of removal, utility, and other uses.
Instants
The instants we use are mostly removal spells to keep other players off their game.
Planeswalkers
Pure utility, as most planeswalkers are.
Sorceries
8/22
-Imposing Sovereign, +Solemn Simulacrum
-Swamp, +Buried Ruin
8/23
-Plains, + Flagstones of Trokair
8/25
-Salvaging Station
-Dispeller's Capsule
-Executioner's Capsule
-Scrabbling Claws
-Origin Spellbomb
-Well of Lost Dreams
-Sunbeam Spellbomb
+Grave Pact
+Seal of Cleansing
+Seal of Doom
+ Withered Wretch
+Reveillark
+Karmic Guide
+Angel of Despair
8/28
-Swamp
-Sword of Feast and Famine
-Stoneforge Mystic
-Helm of Obedience
-Sword of Fire and Ice
-Debt to the Deathless
+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
+Braids, Cabal Minion
+Dimir House Guard
+Martyr's Cause
+Magus of the Abyss
+Cataclysm
9/3
-Blood Baron of Vizkopa
-Karmic Guide
-Reveillark
+Liliana of the Dark Realms
+Necromancy
+Sigil of the Empty Throne
-Righteous War
+Contamination
9/13
-Victim of Night
+Yagmoth's Will
9/27
-1 Dark Confidant
+1 Land Tax
I felt with Dark Tutelage already, we didn't need to hurt ourselves anymore, especially with Confidant's "liability" of being a creature. Tax lowers the avg cmc and helps us recover after a wipe/hit land drops.
-1 Angel of Despair
+1 Vampiric Tutor
Lowering the avg cmc, and adding another tutor to our arsenal.
-1 Night's Whisper
+1 Read the Bones
A strict upgrade, I feel.
-1 Call to the Grave
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Call was always kinda meh when played. Elspeth is just awesome.
-1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
+1 Heliod, God of the Sun
One token producer for another, also lower cmc.
-1 Wayfarer's Bauble
+1 Nihil Spellbomb
I love Bauble, but I was at a loss on what else to cut here. Needed some more grave hate, and the cantrip is nice.
-1 Loxodon Gatekeeper
+1 Hero's Downfall
Downfall is just too good not to run. Loxodon has felt win-more lately.
That's really all I see from Theros. Agree? Disagree?
This is where I list to you all the replacement cards you could swap in and out. It is my firm belief that if you play with or are a person that hates MLD, stax, locks, etc, then you'd need to rework this deck at the core, and it would be a very different deck. That's why, instead of listing other cards, I will guide you to lists I feel accomplish other goals, while remaining in the same colors. They are as follows:
The Abyss
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Moat
Vindicate
Land Tax
If you have enough artifact ramp this would put you at an advantage.
Also no Solemn Simulacrum, and you have a debt but no Exsanguinate?
Other suggestions: Crackdown, Nihil Spellbomb, Tormod's Crypt and Buried Ruin.
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
Hey, thanks for the suggestions!
Armageddon is in the list already
Desolation Angel has been considered, but overall I think if I wanted another MLD effect i'd go for Catastrophe because of its versatility.
I feel as though I don't need both debt and Exsanguinate right now, but if I start getting focused hard I could see it coming in.
I have no good reason as to why Solmen, Buried Ruin and Nihil Spellbomb aren't in the deck, any suggestions for cuts?
Also in regards to Crackdown I chose Meekstone over it because it affects all colors, and can be easily recurred with Salvaging Station.
EDIT:
Went ahead and swapped these out, also started a change log.
-Imposing Sovereign, +Solemn Simulacrum
-Swamp, +Buried Ruin
High Priest of Penance it feels clunky. How about Serra Ascendant instead?
Dispeller's Capsule -> Seal of Cleansing unless there is some reason specifically to run artifacts it seems like an upgrade.
Kismet seems like something you are missing as well.
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[Modern] Allies
Hey thanks for the suggestions. Yeah my group is pretty open lol, I guess im sort of lucky.
Angel/Catastrophe: I feel geddon is enough for now, I oddly haven't needed more. Also they're a bit higher on the curve. Although the angel is a flying beater as well.
I know someone was going to bring up the priest. He's actually been working out REALLY well for me, plus he gets bonus flavor points. He's one of the ultimate rattlesnakes, and can also grab some equipment and go to town if I need. I've had him equipped, and pinged him with my Sword of Fire and Ice trigger to blow stuff up on command, its pretty fun heh. If my deck was as heavy into lifegain as your version, I could definitely see this swap though.
Seal/Capsule: Mainly because capsule can be recurred with Salvaging Station. Thats it really lol.
Do you think Kismet should go in, even though I have Loxodon Gatekeeper and Blind Obedience already? I was thinking it was overkill, but I could be wrong.
When I was typing that up you still had Imposing Sovereign in the list and I was thinking it would be better than that. I still think its better than the Gatekeeper who is going to be more fragile than it.
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[Modern] Allies
Ah I see. Yeah Sovereign was definitely the weaker of those effects. Gatekeeper can also chump, be equipped or clamped as well. Though maybe I am being paranoid about having equipment but no bodies to put it on. Warrants some thinking.
Night's Whisper I have always been a little unimpressed by the draw 2 loose 2 cards. Its just my own personal thoughts but depending on how much mass LD you want to run its good to have cheap draw.
You forgot to add Flagstones of Trokair to the list too. If you are willing to run Armageddon its worth adding flagstones too.
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[Modern] Allies
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
Yeah...you're probably right. Maybe I am trying too hard to make it work. Flagstones is a good call though and an oversight on my part. I just have to find one.
Also something to consider.
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[Modern] Allies
Yeah, he's really awesome.
In other news, a lot of changes:
-Salvaging Station
-Dispeller's Capsule
-Executioner's Capsule
-Scrabbling Claws
-Origin Spellbomb
-Well of Lost Dreams
-Sunbeam Spellbomb
+Grave Pact
+Seal of Cleansing
+Seal of Doom
+ Withered Wretch
+Reveillark
+Karmic Guide
+Angel of Despair
0 Martyr's Cause
0 Moonlit Wake
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Catastrophe
0 Cataclysm
I was just stopping by to check out the primer before I head to bed, so I won't touch on the cards in question (quite yet), but I will say that I think Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth should be in almost every deck that plays Black. Effectively eliminating the possibility of being short on Black mana is a very powerful thing, especially since in EDH so much of what Black plays are double or triple Black mana.
(Also known as Xenphire)
Hey, thanks for the kind words and stopping by. Yeah, U,ToY should definitely be in here. Just a matter of finding one irl :/.
-Swamp
-Sword of Feast and Famine
-Stoneforge Mystic
-Helm of Obedience
-Sword of Fire and Ice
+Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
+Braids, Cabal Minion
+Dimir House Guard
+Martyr's Cause
+Magus of the Abyss
I wanted to rely less on equipment, hoping to even include Null Rod in the future, so naturally mystic was out. I traded Helm, which isnt THAT great by itself, for Martyr's Cause which is good as a stand alone. Also noticed I had a lot of 4 drops, so Dimir House Guard was a no brainer. Also ironically added 2 more 4 drops in Braids and Magus. I bumped up the avg CMC a little which is unfortunate, but that will balance out in time. Also still wanting to fit in Cataclysm and Catastrophe, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Angel of Despair I find it a lot less impressive in a deck not designed to abuse creatures. For me, its honestly a 7 mana vindicate that mostly backfires with all the clones and briberies that run about. I stopped running it outside of creature abuse decks.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa vanilla beaters are very questionable. Especially since you are trying to go stax I think there are much better things that he could turn into such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel which enable stax much better.
High Priest of Penance same as blood barron to me. I would rather have something that positively interacts with stax if such as Hero of Bladehold or Emeria Angel assuming you are going heavier stax as your direction.
Sacred Mesa being that you are going stax I think this looses a lot of its potential. It takes a lot of mana to keep it up and considering it eats a token itself at beginning of turn I think considering swapping it into like Elspeth Tirel or something might pay off better.
Seal of Doom doom blade is not impressive, nor is this. I get that you can get it back but its still meh to me.
Debt to the Deathless going stax means operating on a lower mana curve. Paying big x isnt as much of an option so I would cut this.
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[Modern] Allies
Thanks again for the thoughts.
Meekstone-This card has saved my butt more times than not in my experience. I don't think i'd want to remove it, however your suggestion of Arena is actually pretty good. I forgot that card existed tbh.
Angel-You're probably right here. Think this could be Desolation Angel's spot?
Blood Baron/High Priest-While these are somewhat, pet cards. I knew they would be some of the more controversial choices. But I stand by them. They work out surprisingly well.
Mesa-Huh, I've never really had trouble keeping it. I'll keep a close eye on it and make a note when something like Elspeth or Mobilization wouldn't have been better.
Seal-More of a meta call then I guess. I face a lot of Gruul/selesnya generals and creatures that need to be removed asap.
Debt-You're right, I thought it'd work out but it just hasn't. Seems like a good swap for Cataclysm.
Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated seeing as we seem to share a lot of the same generals lol :).
EDIT: Went ahead and swapped-
-Debt, +Cataclysm
This also opens another tool for Dimir House Guard to fetch.
EDIT#2
She was something I was considering. The lack of reliable sac outlets is a little annoying, but yeah she should probably be in here. Now to find one :X
Desolation Angel probably is a better call over Angel of Despair. They clearly arent there for the same purpose but you should be able to run away with a game by cutting off the landbase and having Obzedat + the angel in play. On the flip side though, equipment becomes really solid once you cut off lands but you just cut most of your equipment package lol.
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[Modern] Allies
Yeah...maybe add more stax pieces? I was also thinking to add some reanimation (necromancy, animate dead) but I thought it might dilute the deck. Kinda in a rut right now :/. Also realized Humility should probably be in here.
Humility - it seems a little difficult because it does stop Obzedat and a lot of your creature based stax effects. I love the card but I dont know if this is neccesarily the right deck for it. You dont have that much token based stuff in general and your creatures still seem to be ETB or over time value based making it sort of awkward with them. Great card, I don't know if its the right deck to use it though.
Yawgmoth's Will - I noticed you don't run yag will. Its probably something to consider as you can recover a lot of really great utility cards in one shot. It lets you play a land from the grave too which is always useful.
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[Modern] Allies
Oh don't get me wrong. I love Necro, I just wasn't sure if it was too goodstuff or not. I've had problems lately where I just through X card in a deck because its good, and it ends up having no synergy wiht the list. Could be right on Humility, I have enough hate already that doesnt hurt my commander. Yawgwin could potentially be awesome. I'll keep an eye out for one to test.