I will leave this up for anyone looking though. Thank you all for years!
Cue the epic music.
Sliver Queen
Superfriends Control
Illustration by Ron Spencer
I. My History with Magic and Commander
My involvement with Magic: the Gathering, began in the Summer of 2011, shortly after my brother returned with a new enthusiasm about a card game. The whole dynamics and essence that made Magic really appealed to me. I suppose I do not remember the exact point in which I started to play, but I just remember the dynamics and essence of what made Magic really appealed to me. Fortunately, one of my closest friends, who also began playing during the same time, step-father owned a card shop that was no longer open. He let us scrummage through all the buried treasure in this shop, which had cards all the way from Alpha up to around Time Spiral. Although, without my brother, we were pretty blind going into there. Anyways, we took back a collection of cards, and in addition to what my brother had accumulated since he first started playing, all my friends and I started assembling are little casual decks. It quickly became evident that older, blue cards were obviously the strongest (ahem, Counterspell, Brainstorm) and that my friend whose step-father owned the shop basically had a monopoly on all the powerful cards. He was winning fairly consistently, mainly with the help of brother in constructing his deck.
Anyways, onto my involvement with commander. Ironically, my initial involvement with Commander had nothing to do with the format at all, but instead, the Commander 2011 decks that came out that Summer. It was around the time that my friend with all the powerful cards was always winning when these decks came out, and my brother had expressed to me how good the cards had been in these decks. I decided to go fetch me all five, but upon opening the decks, my reaction had been, “What do you do with these big, dumb cards? Are they special? What's the command zone anyway?” I ignored the confusing terms, being told it's another format (I hadn't even known what format meant at the time) and reaped the awesome benefits of the decks. I enjoyed sending bolts to the face with my big ol' Magmatic Force and Joining Force to take down the guy with all the old cards. Summer came to an end, my brother left to college, and we all went back to high school, leaving Magic behind us. Eventually, in Winter/Early Spring of 2012, friends of mine picked the game back up, still playing casually. They would always ask for me to come play with them, but I hadn't been interested during this time, usually just telling them, “Maybe next weekend.” Although, shortly after Avacyn Restored was released, I was finally convinced to come play again. I remember one of the first days back I went out and bought four or five booster of Avacyn Restored, one holding a Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. I was ecstatic, and happy to be playing again. We continued to play casually until my brother returned from college.
After my brother returned we continued to play fun, casual decks assembled from random pieces, up until my brother had finished his commander deck. I was confused, why did he have so many cards in his deck, and “What's the command zone anyway?” My brother played a combo oriented Barrin, Master Wizard (which has now evolved into this primer, go check it out). This deck was stomping everyone left and right. How could we beat someone who generated infinite mana, who then proceeded to Blue Sun's Zenith us to death? It was clear there was only one way, which was to build a commander deck. My response to my brother's deck was a heavily combo influenced Riku of Two Reflections deck. My official involvement with the format of commander had just began. Around this time, since my play group was transitioning from casual to casual commander, we had lost a lot of our fellow players, but started expanding to our local game store. My career in commander has led to me to play numerous different decks, one of them being ISBPathfinder's Jenaralist. I had loved this deck. I thought the play style was amazing, it was perfectly built, and exactly what I wanted to play. Although, there was one thing missing. It wasn't mine. Being a Johnny at heart, I really wanted to express myself through the ownership of a commander deck. I had been stalking MTGSalvation for a while at this point, and the [Primer] title was just so enticing. That has brought me to this point, Sliver Queen Superfriends.
II. Deck History
Okay, so I want to start off by talking about the roots of this deck. Really, my passion for superfriends decks, really began before I started playing commander, when I actually had played around with a casual superfriends deck. I always found planeswalkers to be the most fascinating cards in the game, at least when I first started playing. So when I first found out about Doubling Season I was ecstatic. I played around with that deck, which was a Bant superfriends deck, for a while around the beginning of my Magic career.
Six months later, after I had really gotten into the commander format, one of my early decks I had picked up was an Angus Mackenzie superfriends deck. This deck was really inspired by the casual deck I had played before, and I really enjoyed it. After putting down that deck, I had played commander for a while, playing multiple different decks such as Jenara, Asura of War, as stated earlier. After feeling a little dissatisfied by the fact that the only deck I really enjoyed playing wasn't my own creation, I thought I would go out and try and find myself a deck that I could make my own. That's basically when I went full circle, returning to the superfriends archetype.
Around this time my brother, whom I share my collection with, had been working on five mono colored lists, therefore we were left with all of our duals, and considering that and my realization of how great Sliver Queen was for the superfriends approach, my first attempt was born. So I had played a Sliver Queen Superfriends iteration very similar to this one for awhile, but lacked in different areas that never made the deck "click" at the time. Back to Jenara I went, and I was happy to be playing something that I knew was fun. Although, again my Johnny started to rise up in me, and I just wanted to be able to express my creative ability in the game.
There was multiple different decks I started to write-up, but none of them really appealed too much. One day, without evening considering about building the deck, I made a new list for Sliver Queen, updating it with some more efficiency and dropping the Jokulhaups effects. Within a week or so, my interest in this deck peaked, and I decided to reassemble it. I'm definitely happier this time around playing the deck, and even though Sliver Queen Superfriends is not necessarily a unique idea of mine, I can say the list and inspiration of the deck is.
III. Why Superfriends? Well, let's begin by addressing the obvious. Playing a deck where you have 20+ planeswalkers is just awesome, plain and simple. Although, there's many reasons why that is. For one, superfriends decks are very resilient. Basically, you have to think of it this way, planeswalkers are essentially little swiss army knives, therefore they can adapt to many different metas. Facing down an Avacyn, Angel of Hope? Karn Liberated. Need card advtange? Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Board position looking complicated? Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. In addition to the fact that they are extremely versatile spells, planeswalker cards are extremely flavorful and interesting characters, capturing the different story of said planeswalker during a time period in Magic.
Planeswalkers - Alright, by now I would imagine that most of you understand one of the central themes of this list is controlling the game and eventually proceeding to victory through planeswlakers. Planeswalkers as a strategy is essentially the backbone of the deck, or in other words, its what we came here for.
Tokens – After planeswalkers, this is probably the second most prevalent theme within the deck. I have found that a token subtheme has been very successful in super friends lists because tokens often interact very well with super friends related pieces and planeswalkers in general. Take Doubling Season. You can probably find this card in every superfriends list, because it allows planeswalkers to enter the battlefield with double loyalty counters. But another application of Doubling Season is that it gives you the ability to create a swarm, both off of nonplaneswalker cards, such as Sliver Queen, or even planeswalkers like Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Another reason tokens fit so well in a superfriends deck is because tokens provide great protection for your planeswalkers, chumping whenever a beater is swinging in against a crucial planeswalker.
Five Color Control - Since we want every planeswalker available to us for use, a five color list is essential. Beyond the fact that this is a five color superfriends list, this is also a five color control deck. Since we want to use planeswalkers as our main strategy, which often requires a control on the board state, a superfriends strategy and control go hand in hand. Your gonna find the majority of typical five color control pieces in here: wraths, extra turns, spot removal, tutors, etc.
V. Why Sliver Queen?
For some Sliver Queen may seem like an obvious choice, but to others, they do not necessarily understand why there may not be a better general that could be printed for this deck.
Let's begin by analyzing Sliver Queen:
Mana Cost - WUBRG. Okay, so what does that mean? Well it means a lot of things. For one, it means we have to access to all colors, which allows us to play anything we feel fit for the list. Although, with that being said, it too should be noted that five color lists can have a difficult, and expensive, time spent fixing. Casting into five color can sometimes seem intimidating, but once you get into the detail of what Sliver Queen has to offer, you soon realize the benefits out weight the costs. In addition to the colors, five mana for a commander is probably ideal. It allows us to have Sliver Queen sent back to the command zone two or three times before it gets too expensive to cast. What is also important to remember is that Sliver Queen is fine modeling in the command zone, doing what queens do, looking good for the public. She's not a necessity for the deck to function, but more often than not she will help.
Creature Type - Sliver. This doesn't necessarily have any relevance to the Superfriends strategy, but it can mean something to our deck if we want. Even though slivers are often regarded as an aggressive tribal playstyle, given Sliver Queen's ability, utility slivers can be put to work if desired. BUT, don't forget. Sliver's are also one of the coolest creature types in Magic's history.
Ability - "2: Put a 1/1 colorless Sliver creature token onto the battlefield." The bread and butter of this card. Who knew one line of text could mean so much? As I mentioned previously, if you decided to include utility slivers, you can reap some amazing benefits off this ability. These tokens aren't necessarily something that your opponents can forget about. With cards such as Doubling Season or an Elspeth, Sun's Champion emblem, these tokens can quickly get out of control, putting the game out of reach for your opponents. Last, but not least, what are they going to be doing most? Protecting your superfriends.
Stats - 7/7. Although this may not come up as much, we should never forget that Sliver Queen is still a five mana 7/7. If we need to, she can easily turn into a three turn clock.
VI. Alternative Commanders Well... say for some reason you didn't want to play Sliver Queen. Who knows, maybe your family was attacked by the Hive so you have some weird hate for slivers. Anyways, you have options, but let me warn you that these options truly do not compare to Sliver Queen.
Progenitus – Progenitus is honestly the biggest competitor to the throne. Amongst all of the other superfriends decks out there, I would suggest that Progenitus is at least the second most featured as the commander, and potentially even more than Sliver Queen. I think this may be because essentially he serves as a win-condition himself, and his sheer awesomeness is just sorta appealing. Although, Sliver Queen's stats trail right behind Progenitus, and besides protection, she offers a lot more value.
Reaper King – Okay, so Reaper King is the best option out there if you were interested in dropping a color (unless you are comfortable playing with a Nephlim) and still being able to cast your commander. I think dropping red could be a viable move, considering it takes up less than ten percent of the deck, but has equal fixing as every other color. Although, I find the red things I do run pretty awesome (c'mon, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker?), so I would prefer to stay true to the five color theme. Plus, other than that, Reaper King doesn't necessarily help the strategy by any means.
Child of Alara – Right off the bat, the problem with Child of Alara is he takes all of your planeswalkers with him. Say, for example, if he read “... destroy all artifact, creatures, and enchantments”, he could very well be the best contender, potentially even taking Sliver Queen's spot, depending on the meta. But he doesn't. So, as for now, I would suggest not running Child of Alara, unless you feel as though it is in your best interest, based on your meta, to use more board wipes.
A five color list comes with a little bit of mandatory on early game fixing. Your initial hand should feature at least three lands, probably even four, and you want as many as those to be fetchlands. Fetchlands are going to give you the accessibility to any colors as you draw into spells. If you don't necessarily have a specific focus to go with, remember that the majority of color requirements the list goes in this order: blue, white, black, green, and red. With that being said, I would suggest to try and get to the point in which you can generate any color mana, and then move on to getting two sources of the colors that need it the most. Other great cards to tutor for or draw into during these stages of the game is Chromatic Lantern, Command Tower, or Mana Confluence.
Another resource that needs to be taken care of during early game is utilizing the ability to draw, to begin establishing a greater foundation for the bridge to mid game.
Amongst everything that's in the deck, the best tools for establishing card advantage is the different iterations of Jace planeswalkers. When tutoring for one of the Jace iterations, I would suggest evaluating who you're playing with. If you expect that your meta is cut throat, I would suggest sweetening them up with a Jace Beleren activation every so often. If during the early game the players your meta are more focused on establishing their own board position, the best answer for gaining card advantage is Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Early-Mid Game Transition
As the game starts to progress, and players begin to build their board state, don't forget to take steps to ensure you will transition smoothly from early game to mid game and have resources in place in case of some type of mass removal.
This is where being a superfriends list is really going to benefit you. There are various planeswalkers that really help provide you value, and essentially card advantage because your investing one card into multiple activations, during this point in the game. Cards like Liliana Vess, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Dack Fayden, etc. are all fairly cheap and castable at this stage in the game, and can really start helping you amass a board state. Liliana will provide you insane card selection, every time she has two loyalty to spare. Dack Fayden as will help you filter through unwanted cards, such as lands you can pitch and recur off of Crucible of Worlds, or steal someone's Sol Ring. It obviously all varies on the situation you are in, so I would suggest that it is always a fine move to go ahead and tutor for Garruk Wildpseaker at this point in the game, considering he will certainly put you ahead, letting you go on casting your big splashy spells, such asUgin, the Spirit Dragon, a couple turns early.
A key card in this list, to ensure constant land drops and to thin your deck, is Crucible of Worlds. With all ten fetchlands this is essentially an auto-include. Also, don't forget the very powerful interaction between the fetchlands and the Brainstorm-like effects we run such as Sensei's Divining Top and Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Landing Crucible of Worlds will help you consistently hit a land drop, fix your draws, and thin your list. THAT is why this is so amazing during this time of the game.
Mid Game
Okay, the game has been going on for a little while and everyone's agenda is essentially beginning to unfold. This is the time when we need to begin landing our Doubling Seasons, The Chain Veil, planeswalkers, and ways to protect them.
This is also the time that Sliver Queen and our other forms of token production is going to begin fulfilling their role. Usually this is the time you have around three to four planeswalkers on the board, and you need something to get in your opponent's creatures way. I only suggest this is if you're facing down fatties without trample, and have no other means of investing your mana into to protect your planeswalkers. In addition to producing tokens, if you want to put pressure onto your opponents, you can always cast Sliver Queen and starting attack for seven.
As said, this is the time we have a number of planeswalkers on board, and other than tokens, another way to protect them is sweepers. Sweepers like Hallowed Burial or Merciless Eviction are going to ensure we can get rid of pesky commanders and indestructible creatures, in addition to preventing any recursion. Austere Command can be a little one-sided if we have a massive army of tokens on the battlefield, or to pick off all of those artifacts that pesky blue player has on board.
Lands like Kor Haven and Maze of Ith are going to outright fog your opponent's largest threats. You don't really want to spend four mana for a sorcery speed on a single token to have your Elspeth, Knight-Errant eaten up before next turn.
Landing some of the most disrupting permanents in the format, Humility and Torpor Orb, is going to ensure the survival for your planeswalkers. Both of these cards, especially Humility, are going to be devastating if not answered. Also, these effects are essentially one-sided because the only creature we run is Sliver Queen.
We also have to be a little careful of our life total. With all ten shocklands and fetchlands, cards like Bitterblossom and that player playing the annoying "Dah! Big N' Stompy" deck sitting next to you, our life total can begin to dwindle. So, if you have to, let a planeswalker take a hit so you can save a Maze of Ith for yourself.
Winning
Winning the game is going to come in multiple forms with this list, and changes for each of your match-ups. Below listed is the primary forms of winning the game.
One of the most obvious ways to win the game is through different forms of ultimating planeswalkers. Now, none of our planeswalkers actually read “You win the game.”, well, Vraska sorta does that, but she's not even in the list. But that doesn't mean we will achieve the victory through these guys. Some of the planeswalkers will allow you to win through beating face, some will be through a ridiculous ability and others will just cause your opponents to scoop. A lot of superfriends list tend to rely on Jokulhaups effects to close out games when you have a board full of planeswalkers, but I'm just not a fan of redundancy in my games, so I leave those effects out. We have plenty of ways between our planeswalkers to win the game.
In addition to just ultimating your planeswalkers, slowly amassing various types of greater board positions over your opponents, through the value planeswalkers provide, can often lead to concession or just eventually putting your opponent’s life totals to zero.
Commonly you will win the game through just a massive arsenal of tokens. Landing Doubling Season will not only help ultimate your planeswalkers early, but will also help you create this massive army of tokens. With cards like Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Bitterblossom, and the general Sliver Queen, it is not that difficult to put lethal damage on the board. Also, keep this strategy in mind throughout the game, doing things such as using Sorin, Lord of Innistrad to create a few anthem emblems.
Beating with Sliver Queen. Although it is a little unorthodox, she is a three turn clock. Also, with pump effects such as Elspeth, Knight-Errant, she's likely to take less turns to hit for lethal.
Doubling Season & The Chain Veil
Ultimately, these two cards really help take the deck from a steady attrition based control deck that provides card advantage as you find your path to victory, to a deck that just explodes and is just completely oppressive. While The Chain Veil has been recently removed from the list, I will leave the explanation of the card and its functions in this section since it is still a staple for many superfriends lists.
Doubling Season - For those who are unaware, one of the most exciting interactions between planeswalkers and any other card in the game is that of their interaction with Doubling Season. Upon entering the battlefield, the loyalty counters listed at the bottom right of the planeswalkers are placed on the planeswalker. This means that the planeswalkers will enter the battlefield with double the amount of counters that they would have originally. This is because one of the abilities of Doubling Season states that "If an effect would place one or more counters on a permanent you control, it places twice that many of those counters on that permanent instead." Now, compare that knowledge to many planeswalkers such as Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Jace, Architect of Thought, Liliana of the Veil, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and the list goes on. All of these planeswalkers have ultimates that are just back-breaking for your opponents, all at double or less than double the amount of loyalty counters they will originally enter the battlefield with. This means that you are able to activate those insane, swingy abilities with just the cast of the planeswalkers.
NOTE: Remember the Doubling Season only affects the amount of counters placed on a planeswalker when the planeswalker enters the battlefield. When a planeswalkers ability is activated, you do not put double the amount of counters on the planeswalker. This is because putting loyalty counters on a planeswalker is a part of the cost of the planeswalker's activation, not the effect.
The Chain Veil - The other staple for planeswalker based list. The Chain Veil, which is less subtle in its effectiveness, is another card that is obviously tailored made for accelerate our deck from 0 to 100 immediately. Unlike Doubling Season, The Chain Veil provides a much more slow, and satisfying, win, yet still oppressive. With at least three planeswalkers on board, casting into a Chain Veil with four mana to activate it, you are almost certain to put yourself in a position to win the game. Take for example you cast The Chain Veil, you have Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Liliana Vess, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon on board. A set-up such as allows for an insane play that I would image would follow like this:
- Activate Ugin, either bolting an opponent or picking of an X/3 creature
- Activate Kiora, preventing something from dealing damage this turn, which protects the set up for Ugin
- Activate Liliana, tutor for something to also protect Ugin
- Activate The Chain Veil, so that you are able to activate your planeswalkers abilities agian
- Activate Ugin again, now he's at least 9 loyalty, one away from ultimate
- Activate Kiora to draw what you tutored for with Liliana
- Activate Liliana again so that the next turn you'll be able to play it with Ugin's ultimate
That is just one example of a most likely game winning interaction with The Chain Veil. Also, don't forget that similarly to Doubling Season, The Chain Veil helps you steadily tick up loyalty counters to put you into a winning position.
With this section what I am going to try and do is to give both explanations for cards included in the list and options that are currently out of the deck. Since this is a five color list, you could include any card you wanted to in the deck, but instead I am just going to review cards I feel could potentially deserve a spot. If you feel there's a card I am missing in this section, feel free to make suggestions! I know there's a lot of different options for the superfriends archetype, so if I miss one feel free to point it out.
NOTE: Cards featured in bold indicate cards that are currently featured in my list. I will do my best to keep this updated, but if this ever differs from the decklist in the original post, trust the original to determine what the updated decklist is.
Planeswalkers
Ajani Goldmane - This iteration of Ajani is probably fine, considering that life gain is helpful, it pushes the theme of tokens and generates a win-condition. Currently he just doesn't make the list due to space.
Ajani Steadfast - As appealing this Ajani is for superfriends, it doesn't really seem that great after further inspection. His plus really doesn't advance any of our strategy, his minus is appealing but again doesn't help our strategy until the point in which we have a lot of planeswakers, and his ultimate is awesome, but what planeswalkers isn't? I don't know, maybe I'll test him someday.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - This Ajani is probably the least helpful to our strategy, and the only ability I really like is the ultimate.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - Considering I don't run Auras or any creatures, his second ability isn't all that efficient. In addition to that, we don't really care about +1/+1 counters. But, I mean, gaining a hundred life is cool.
Ajani Vengeant - All of his abilities can be relevant in this list. Tapping down a utility land or creature, Lightning Helixing an X/3, and a one-sided Armageddon are all very good abilities.
Elspeth Tirel - I like this Elspeth, as it wraths the second turn it drops, but that wrath also sweeps other planeswalkers. If the token theme was the dominate theme in the deck, she would most likely find a spot.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - Hands down one of my favorite planeswalkers. She protects herself and other planeswalkers with tokens, she turns Sliver Queen into a 10/10 flying beater, and her ultimate is amazing. I would always include this in a superfriends list..
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Another amazing Elspeth iteration. She creates three chumpers, wraths, and she turns tokens into a lethal army. I would always include this in a superfriends list.
Gideon Jura - I really like this Gideon, considering he helps protects you and your other planeswalkers, he serves as pseudo removal, and beats for six. He really just doesn't fit due to space.
Gideon, Champion of Justice - I find this Gideon interesting, but really weird. I just don't think he proves himself in multiplayer formats.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer - This card is really too narrow to find a spot in most lists, but it does provide a little bit of utility. Her plus one with Skullclamp in play virtually reads "Draw two cards", and if not, she at least creates a chump blocker. Also, her ultimate can turn your little tokens into beaters, which is also pretty awesome.
Jace Beleren - Baby Jace is basically one of our favorite early game sources of repeatable card advantage. Another thing I really like about this Jace is that, although providing draws for your opponents, he's definitely a big political player. I would always include this in a superfriends list.
Jace, Architect of Thought - This Jace is definitely a good team player. He protects planeswalkers, provides card advantage, and his ultimate basically wins the game.
Jace, Memory Adept - Since mill is weakest in the commander format, mainly due to the size of the decks and the fact that Eldrazi run rampant, this Jace iteration is fairly weak. As is, the deck is fine for card advantage, which is really all this Jace is good for, and he's pretty bad at that.
Jace, the Living Guildpact - I really like this Jace. Although he doesn't provide card advantage until his ultimate, he filters your draws and creates big tempo plays by bouncing a permanent. He can also bounce a planeswalker after an activation to get an additional activation, which is always nice. Then his ultimate just wins you the game. Currently being tested over Jace, Architect of Thought.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - There's a reason he's considered the best planeswalker ever printed. He has four abilities, he Brainstorms (which works awesome with the fact we have ten fetchlands and Crucible of Worlds), and provides tempo plays. Although he isn't as much of an all-star as he is in every other format, he is still very good. I would always include this in a superfriends list.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - Tamiyo is definitely a solid team player. She locks down creatures, which is awesome against voltron decks, she can draw cards, and her ultimate sorta just wins you the game.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage - His plus one digs and gains card advantage. His minus ramps, and interacts nicely with cards such as The Chain Veil. His ultimate is probably one of the most fun abilities you can crack off in a game. Really just an overall really good superfriends planeswalker.
Liliana of the Dark Realms - This Liliana iteration is the Queen of durdle. Without a lot of Swamp support, besides the eight Swamp duals, she basically does nothing. If for some reason you love this card, and you must run it, at least include Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Liliana of the Veil - Her plus serves as a really good attrition engine, being able work on your opponent's hands when they depend on it, while discarding lands to a Crucible of Worlds engine. Her minus is also really good, as it deals with voltron decks and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre.
Liliana Vess - One of my favorite team players. If she isn't attacked, she can tutor twice and still stay on the board. One of the better planeswalkers to draw into during the late game.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath - Probably what this guy does best is offset all of the life lost during this game, while making big chump blockers to boot.
Sorin Markov - Sorin is basically the chief of the Life Gain Enforcement Agency. You know that you often times run into that player who, through some method, ends up at 100+ life and is basically guaranteed the win. This is what Sorin is for. Even if a certain player isn't at a high life total, ten life is in the danger zone. Other than that, his plus can be nice removal on small guys and his ultimate can be fairly back breaking.
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Makes chump blockers that gain life while chumping, creates an emblem that anthems, and his ultimate is pretty nice. If you don't include the token subtheme, he may not be the best fit.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor - This Sorin provides a life gain element and also an ability to create flying chump blockers. In addition to that, his ultimate is really nice removal which will most likely win you the game.
Daretti, Scrap Savant - Works really nice to filter through unnecessary cards, such as lands during late game, but he is also awesome because he turns your Sol Rings into blown up Chain Veils, or cards of that like.
Chandra Ablaze - This Chandra is more red dependent than Liliana of the Dark Realms is Swamp dependent. The only ability I like is her minus two, which occasionally will end up being bad for you.
Chandra Nalaar - Really just not that good of a planeswalker. One damage is negligible, most of the time, and her other two abilities are fairly weak, too.
Chandra, Pyromaster - I think this Chandra iteration is fine, it's just not spectacular. Her plus can be OK when trying to come in with the Sliver Queen beats, her zero ability is OK and her ultimate has the chance of just whiffing. Basically she's defined by the fact that her abilities are all "OK", which means she's just really mediocre.
Chandra, the Firebrand - This Chandra is probably a little better than others, but only marginally. I like the idea of copying Time Warp effects, but her plus and ultimate is "eh".
Koth of the Hammer - Koth's problem is that he suffers from the combination of the problems of Liliana of the Dark Realms and Chandra Ablaze. He needs support, unfortunately, because I like Koth.
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker - Very comparable to Gideon Jura. He turns into a beater, has spot removal, but ultimates which provides late game card advantage. If you want to push the aggression a little further, I would suggest running this Sarkhan iteration.
Sarkhan the Mad - Nothing too flashy, Sarkhan's abilities are all pretty good, besides his ultimate. His zero draws you card, especially in conjunction with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Sensei's Divining Top, and his minus two is nice removal. Sarkhan the Mad's favorite friend is Venser, the Sojourner.
Sarkhan Vol - This Sarkhan iteration is also pretty nice, considering he works pretty well with the token subtheme, although probably not enough to make the cut.
Sarkhan Unbroken - Basically a value engine, besides his ultimate. I definitely consider this Sarkhan iteration a flex spot, and can be substituted with many other planeswalkers.
Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed - Although he basically has five abilities, they are all creature centric, and this deck has no creatures in the ninety-nine. He's definitely not worth the space.
Garruk Wildspeaker - My personal favorite Garruk iteration. He basically turns your turn five into turn seven, in addition to Overrunning when we have a battlefield full of tokens. Plus his minus one creates a blocker to boot.
Garruk, Primal Hunter - Another really good planeswalker. He draws card, creates a beefy token, and his ultimate provides a win-condition.
Garruk, Apex Predator - Probably the most intimidating thing for us to be starring down, but he also does very well in helping us. His first plus is a little narrow, but alas, he's a four ability 'walker! Creating a 3/3 deathtoucher is awesome, removal is nice, and if there's a problem opponent, his ultimate is a nice target on their head.
Nissa Revane - Another planeswalker that literally does nothing in this deck.
Nissa, Worldwaker - Suffers a little bit from the "needs to have support" disease, but just a little less. She will usually be able to untap two or more Forest dual lands, but when we want to wrath frequently, reanimating lands is probably not the best idea. Oh, and her ultimate does nothing in this deck.
Narset Transcendent - A very good planeswalker for this deck. She has approximately a 60% draw percentage on her plus, she has a ton of loyalty to stay alive, and her minus ability provides a ton of value. In addition to that, her ultimate will surely win you the game, and it is not too hard to achieve.
Venser, the Sojourner - Venser is an awesome team player. Basically he just returns a planeswalker to their starting loyalty after an ultimate, lets Sliver Queen swing in without being block, and his emblem is just devastating. Although he does suffer a little bit in the diversity department, and his abilities can be a little narrow.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - Although originally skeptical of Ashiok, I've found her to be a very nice planeswalker. She's not a huge mana investment, she exiles threats off of opponents libraries, snags a nice ETB effect or beefy creature, and then her ultimate is devastating for your opponents. Another thing that's nice is that for your opponents, she's a threat that must be dealt with, which serves as a pseudo Fog.
Domri Rade - Another planeswalker that needs a nice theme built around him. Also his plus does nothing in the list.
Xenagos, the Reveler - His abilities are fine, although they don't necessarily work well in a deck that has no creatures. The only problem with Xenagos is that his abilities are all really mediocre.
Dack Fayden - One of my other favorite planeswalkers of the deck. Looting is nice, especially late game when you want to throw out some unnecessary lands, his minus two can snag anything from a Sol Ring to a sword. Since all of our spells that target permanents destroy them, his ultimate probably doesn't do much.
Ral Zarek - All around a nice planeswalker, with all relevant abilities. He ramps, taps down a permanent, bolts things, and takes a few extra turns. His plus is one of the better abilities in planeswalkers, untapping Maze of Ith, The Chain Veil, etc.
Vraska the Unseen - At five mana, the fact that she Maelstrom Pulses at minus doesn't make up for the fact that she basically does nothing when she pluses.
Kiora, the Crashing Wave - Another planeswalker with abilities that are all effective. What I like most about Kiora is that she keeps a creature "locked-down", letting you worry that much less about having a planeswalker smashed into.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker - Nicol Bolas is the poster boy of why we play superfriends. We like splashy effects, we like flavorful characters of Magic's history, and we like being evil. I would always include this in a superfriends list.
Karn Liberated - Basically the same thing as Nicol Bolas. His flavorful, he blows up pesky permanents, and has nice splashy effects. Also, his ultimate basically says, "-14: Watch your opponents scoop". NOTE: Karn is one of the only answer we have to a resolved Blood Moon. I would always include this in a superfriends list.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - Here's another awesome planeswalker, that may cost a lot, but will likely win you the game. He pings off opposing X/3s, when in doubt he can clear the board, and his ultimate is likely to win you the game. Similarly to Karn, since this deck is so heavy on mana fixing through nonbasic lands, Ugin can destroy various effects such as Blood Moon.
Creatures
Academy Rector - Basically another enchantment tutor that puts the enchantment on the battlefield. I have played Academy Rector before, and my problem was that I had trouble getting him into the graveyard and he attracted a lot of hate. If you decide to run Academy Rector, I would suggest making room for Omniscience.
Hushwing Gryff - Basically Torpor Orb #2, this time on a stick. Unlike Torpor Orb, though, we don't run anything that can tutor Hushwing Gryff, and he dies to wraths. If your meta is very ETB centric, I would suggest making room for Hushwing Gryff. One of the other reasons why I don't run him is because I can say I run zero creatures. I know it's not necessarily practical, but I think it's a cool theme for the deck.
Peacekeeper - Totally an awesome card for superfriends strategies. Although he will eat removal probably immediately, if he isn't he can really preserve your planeswalkers.
Sun Titan - Just an all-star in the format, and personally one of my favorite cards. As for this list, he can recur a few of our planeswalker in addition to some other key enhancements, artifacts, and lands.
Consecrated Sphinx - How do you have a deck that runs blue and not mention this card? Resolving a Consecrated Sphinx has a high chance of essentially just ending the game, with you as the victor. Although, with that being said, he's also one of the worst political plays, and will instantly turn you into King of the Hill.
Ixidron - Wrath on a stick, that doesn't kill your tokens? Seems pretty good. I really like this card, because it can be slightly better than most wraths, including Hallowed Burial. Without a way to sacrifice or destroy a creature, Ixidron can permanently get rid of a pesky general such as Kaalia of the Vast. Oh, and it doesn't trigger of Torpor Orb to boot.
Snapcaster Mage - Again another all-star in the format. From flashbacking cards such as the Time Warp variants, which very well can put you into the position to win the game, to simply flashbacking a removal spell such as Beast Within, Snapcaster Mage is an awesome card. With that being said, he triggers off of entering the battlefield, which is neutered with Torpor Orb in play.
Thrummingbird - Although I am not a big fan of the whole proliferation strategy for superfriends, I really like this card. He comes down turn two, at latest, and doesn't attract a whole lot of attention, and he doesn't interfere with the Torpor Orb strategy to boot. I am currently considering making room for this little guy.
Eternal Witness - Another creature that serves a good purpose. Although, as you probably know by now, it turns into something like strictly Skullclamp fodder after dropping a Torpor Orb. Regrowth is probably just better.
Necrotic Sliver - Again another card that synergizes with your general. This is one of the better utility slivers, because it turns your slivers into Vindicate.
Dormant Sliver - This kinda serves the same purpose as something like Skullclamp being in the deck, but just not as good. This is probably my least favorite of the utility slivers I would consider, but a good one nonetheless.
[*} Narset, Enlightened Master - This card seems pretty awesome for a deck that runs no creature. She basically has an attack trigger that lets you draw four cards AND play them, without paying their mana cost. I'm not entirely sure that I want to break the creaturelessness feel to the deck, but it is something I am considering to run her. Although she is a bit pricey, which will raise my curve.
Sorceries
Austere Command - Really the swiss-army knife of sweepers. I would suggest by beginning the deck, and most other decks, with this sweeper for multiple reasons. It sweeps larger creatures, when we are generating an army, sends the artifact ramp player to the Stone Age, and nukes the enchantress player. All while still providing a Wrath of God mode.
Akroma's Vengeance - A nice way to sweep the board completely, while keeping your planeswalkers in play. This is actually one of my favorite sweepers for this deck, but I just haven't made room for it. I may test it down the road, because with a board full of planeswalkers, this sweeper could just end the game. Oh, and it cycles.
Council's Judgement - Just nice spot removal. The only thing that worries me about this card is that for one, opponents have the chance to get rid of their stuff that's hindering them (ex. Mana Crypt) and you may not even get the chance to pick-off what you want removed. Amazing if you don't player multiplayer.
Hallowed Burial - Probably my second favorite mass removal spell in the format, next to Austere Command. It tucks generals, it prevents recursion, gets around indestructible. and it's only five mana.
Terminus - Very similar to Hallowed Burial but it costs one more mana, and it doesn't. Okay so Miracles provide nice interaction, letting you cast them for instant speed with something such as Sensei's Divining Top and their costs are reduced by a lot. I could see switching this out for another mass removal spell and feeling fine about it.
Wrath of God - Practically the grandfather of all mass removal spells. It's a nice clean effect for a fairly low amount of mana, the only thing that worries me is facing down an Avacyn, Angel of Hope or a general you need tucked, this doesn't do the job. If you wanted to run a higher amount of wraths, I suppose adding this would be fine, but not before some of the more versatile ones.
Savor the Moment - This is a really neat card with a really nice interaction with planeswalkers. Sometimes I find myself early game playing a Time Warp to just ramp and maybe activate a planeswalker, and that's what this is perfect for. Although, when it is late game, and you need to untap and cast whatever, this is a disappointment. I would not recommend running this before the three Time Warp variants, but if you are on a budget or want more extra turn cards, this is the first one I would start with.
Time Warp/Temporal Manipulation/Capture of Jingzhou - "Take an extra turn after this one." One of my favorite effects in Magic, and in this format, these are the best at doing that. Albeit, Temporal Manipulation is pushing $100 and Capture of Jingzhou is cheapest at $200. If you're on a budget, I would at least run Time Warp and two other cards that take additional turns. Here's why: Much like people like to proliferate, extra turn cards do that for your planeswalker, in addition to providing you an extra turn. Casting one of these with a few planeswalkers on board, maybe even one that is about to ultimate, can win you the game.
Time Stretch - Probably the worst take an extra turn card, in addition to having a cost of "Make the table hate you." It's a good card, and a bad card at the same time. Sure taking two turns is probably going to win you the game, but not until you generate ten mana. Plus this is a terrible top deck early game.
Walk the Aeons - After Savor the Moment, this is the next take an extra turn I would include. Although it's one more mana than the three Time Warps, you get the ability to buy it back. Also works nice Prismatic Omen.
Imperial Seal - So I understand that this isn't probably the most budget friendly card, and it's strictly worse than Vampiric Tutor, but it is still amazing. I suggest for those who aren't interested in purchasing this, understandably so, to run Enlightened Tutor. Although, what no other non-black tutor can do, this can tutor up planeswalkers.
Demonic Tutor - In my opinion, the best tutor in the format. For two mana, you are able to fetch up any card and put it into your hand. There really shouldn't be that much explanation needed.
Exsanguinate - This card and its big brother Debt to the Deathless are just life savers, and takers. Really, though. With ten fetchlands and ten shocklands, in addition to cards like Vampiric Tutor and Mana Crypt, staying alive can get a little difficult. With that being said, even if you are to drop this for X=7 in a multiplayer game, you're still gaining twenty-one life. Other than that, this can easily close out the game.
Jokulhaups/Decree of Annihilation/Obliterate - Wanna lose friends? Run these! Seriously, though, these cards can be very effective in a superfriends deck, but also not very fun. Casting one of these with even two planeswalkers essentially just wins you the game. For me, I think they're just a little too costly, risky, and just makes gameplay that is not only fun, but sorta redundant. When I did play these, I noticed that may games would always end in the same manner, land a few 'walkers, cast one of these, win.
Vandalblast - I think a one-sided mass artifact removal spell sorta speaks for itself. If you want red to have a little more presence in the game, run this guy.
Creeping Renaissance - Obviously has a nice application for when your deck has a theme related to a specific card type. Other than casting it naming planeswalker, you can grab artifacts, enchantments, or even your lands after a mass removal spell.
Farseek - Simple, clean two mana ramp spell that allows you to grab dual lands. Gotta love it.
Nature's Lore - Same thing as Farseek, but it comes in untapped. Although, you can only fetch Forests, which is fine most of the time, cause we run eight dual lands with the Forest subtype.
Praetor's Counsel - Just a nice card to help you close out the game. Resolving one of these during turn eight and up will usually win you the game. My only problem is it is often a dead card during the early game, and even sometimes late game when your graveyard isn't too full.
Regrowth - Pretty self explanatory. Grab a time card, a planeswalker, whatever you like.
Skyshroud Claim - A lot similar to the two other ramp spells, but a little bigger. Although this isn't nearly as good to have in your opening hand as the other two, resolving this guy during turn three or four will set you up much further than your opponents. I would suggest running this guy next if you are interested in some more ramp.
Spoils of Victory - Another ramp spell variant, but it can grab any of your land, in addition to coming into play untapped. If you are worried about your fixing, I would maybe suggest this guy over Nature's Lore.
Vindicate - Catch all (non-indestructible) removal.
Merciless Eviction - It's got a few different modes, it exiles, it does a lot. Just make sure you don't find it in your graveyard with a bunch of planeswalkers on board and have an opponent cast Spelltwine naming ".. or exile all planeswalkers." mode.
Wargate - Other than the fact that it goes in and grabs anything, including planeswalkers, its a 3-mana ramp spell that grabs ANY land.
Conflux - I have seen this in a few other lists, but I haven't tested myself. I am not sure of its strength, compared to the other tutors, really because its quite expensive which hinders its flexibility.
Faith's Reward - This has been suggested by a lot of other superfriends list, but I have never actually tested myself. I think it could be fine, but I doubt you'll be cracking off multiple planeswalkers at the same time.
Oblation - Just awesome, clean removal. Other than the fact that it is catch all, it tucks generals, which is a plus. Also, the draw two is not a really hefty draw back.
Path to Exile/Swords to Plowshares - I think if you find yourself generally casting your removal on creatures, run these. I find both of these cards to be staples in every white deck, I can probably even go to say I generally start every white deck with these. But, with that being said, I already run quite a bit of removal, which is more "catch all", so I haven't found the need for them.
Unexpectedly Absent - Another member of the "Catch All" removal suite. This guy is nice because not only is he a two mana instant, he tucks generals, and can save your own permanents to re-up on cast/etb triggers. Although, what can be a bit unfortunate is to really deal with something, you generally have to wait for an opponent search their library for something.
Pact of Negation - Probably the only counterspell I would run. The fact that it is zero mana is awesome, allowing you to make moves and ensure that your moves resolve.
Cyclonic Rift - A board wipe at instant speed, that's one sided? How crazy is that? Okay so this card is insane, as anyone who has resolved it overloaded should know, but it's also a little unpolitical. Still a staple in my mind.
Mystical Tutor - Probably the next tutor in line, after Enlightened Tutor. If you find yourself needing to tutor for instants or sorceries, and maybe want to run some miracles, I would suggest running this.
Vampiric Tutor - The next best tutor, after Demonic Tutor, but even that can be debated. This card is insane at any point in the game, letting you go and grab whatever you need at that moment.
Beast Within - Practically instant speed Vindicate, because the token is often time negligible. I would probably begin my removal suite with this.
Chaos Warp - Just one of our awesome pieces of removal. I think this one may have the largest drawback, but sometimes it just whiffs, which is awesome. Don't forget, though, that you can cast this on a token of your own to hopefully hit a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.
Sphinx's Revelation - If you have played Standard during an environment in which Return to Ravnica was legal, you would know this cards power. In EDH, although, this is even more powerful. Other than the fact that it gains you some life, this card is an awesome way to sink mana during late game, which can either put you into a spot to win or at least let you play catch-up.
Utter End - Another one of our "catch all" removal tools, that will do a very good job at taking care of various things due to its instant speed capabilities.
Enchantments
Humility - Probably one of the best cards in the deck. Other than the fact that this sorta turns you into an archenemy, this card plays very well with the superfriends strategy. In addition to that, since we run no creatures, this card really only affects us with Sliver Queen on board, effectively making this one-sided.
Moat - Protecting your planeswalker is one of the most important things to do in this deck, and this card does that really well. Although, what I have found, is that we can do pretty good at blocking non-flyers (which this shuts off) and we have a problem with flying creatures. Plus this sorta shuts off the token strategy.
Rhystic Study - I'm sure anyone who can play this understands its strengths. Sticking this as early as turn two can put you so far ahead of your opponents you are liking to win the game. I would suggest off-setting this with a draw spell that it useful during the late game, such as Sphinx's Revelation, so that you do not rely on this, which is fairly dead during the end of the game.
Inexorable Tide - Alright, so I know a lot of superfriends list like the proliferation theme, which heavily contributes to the strategy, and this is one of the best cards to do so. Basically allowing you to turn your Elspeth, Knight-Errant ultimate from a five turn clock into potentially two or less.
Omniscience - As stated above, a great target if you are running Academy Rector. When I used to play with Omniscience, Academy Rector, and Jokulhaups effects, I would love dropping Academy Rector into casting a Jokulhaups, going to tutor for Omniscience. It felt dirty, but hey, if you're that guy, be that guy.
Bitterblossom - Most likely the best token producer for dealing with fliers. Most other token production puts guys on the ground, but occasionally planeswalkers, and yourself, need chump blockers that can get in the way of fliers.
Phyrexian Arena - A very reliable and solid piece of card advantage. Although, with the amount of self-inflicting damage, I would suggest to occasionally be weary of this.
The Abyss - Obviously has some good applications in a deck that practically runs no creatures, and the only creature it ever casts can generate a token in response to the upkeep trigger. Also, we want to keep players' creatures locked down as much as possible, and this can really help doing so. But, with that being said, it doesn't pick off artifact creatures or creatures with indestructible. Oh, and it's not the most budget friendly card.
Stranglehold - Probably my favorite red card in the whole entire format. I'm not sure about you guys, but effectively neutering your blue opponents favoritetools, your black opponents favoritetools, and turning fetchlands into do-nothings is what I like to do.
Prismatic Omen - A nice way to fix your mana, when needed. If you are worried about ensuring that you have good color fixing, I would suggesting running this.
Sylvan Library - Dropping this turn two is going to create a much smoother game for you. Other than the fact that this smooths out draws, you can pay life to draw additional cards when needed.
Awakening Zone - When I originally opened a slot that this card now fills, I had originally been looking for more ramp and/or draw. Then I stumbled upon this gem. Other than the fact that this ramps, and it also creates chump blockers for your planeswalkers.
Doubling Season - If you are familiar with the superfriends strategy, you are familiar with this card. Basically, how this works, is the as a planeswalker enters the battlefield, Doubling Season doubles the amount of counters in which are placed on them as they enter (unfortunately not also when they activate abilities). Let me give you a few examples of how bonkers this effect can be: Elspeth, Knight-Errant ultimates immediately, turning the majority of your stuff indestructible. Jace, the Living Guildpact ultimates immediately, and sticks with two loyalty, after drawing you seven cards and getting rid of your opponents hands. Ral Zarek ultimates immediately, and sticks with one loyalty, and then you proceed to take up to five extra turns. The list goes on, but I imagine you understand Doubling Season's strength. Although, this cards power doesn't end there. As stated above, this deck runs a small token sub theme, since it interacts nicely with defending your planeswalkers, which turns into a brutal force when combined with this. Sliver Queen essentially makes 1/1's for 1, Assemble the Legion gets out of control really fast, etc.
Mirari's Wake - The application of this card is two fold, at least. For one, it pumps are guys, making not only a intimidating force but also beefy chump blockers. Secondly, this turns your turn six, after dropping this, into a turn 10+, allowing you to practically cast your hand.
Privileged Position - So if your meta has a lot of target removal, specially of the planeswalkerkind, you may want to find room for this. Other than that, I often find this card to be sorta clunky, not really doing much the majority of the game.
Pernicious Deed - If you have played this, you probably already know how strong this card is. Well, it gets even stronger in this deck. Upon reading, you notice it lists all non-land permanent types besides planeswalkers. Just another Akroma's Vengeance variant, basically.
Assemble the Legion - This can quickly turn into a game winning play if it is left uncheck. Other than that, it generates Skullclamp fodder and chump blockers for planeswalker. This card has been very good in testing.
Maelstrom Nexus - Nice splashy effect for a five color list, that probably does a lot of work. I have yet to test this, but I could see myself testing it, seeing it turns your first turn plays into two.
Artifacts
The Chain Veil - This is to artifact as Doubling Season is to enchantment. Basically, you want this in your deck if you're playing superfriends. Allowing you to activate your planeswalkers multiple times in a turn pushes the deck that much more, giving it even more "umph".
Chromatic Lantern - Probably the best fixer in the format, period. Other than the fact that it completely fixes your mana, it ramps! I would most likely include this in every five color deck.
Contagion Clasp/Contagion Engine - I know a lot of superfriends players play into the proliferate theme, allowing your planeswalker to ultimate turns before expected. I would suggest these guys are some of the best cards at doing that because the effects are reusable, and double as removal. Plus both of these can be tutored for and abused by Tezzeret the Seeker to boot.
Crucible of Worlds - I went into detail a little bit on this card in the strategy section, but this card is insane with ten fetchlands. It fixes your mana, ensures land drops, slowly thins your deck, lets you shuffle away unwanted draws with Jace, the Mindsculptor, and can help you recover from mass land destruction. If you chose not to run fetchlands I would most likely drop this.
Defense Grid - More of a meta dependent choice, but this can always really help against a heavy counterspell control meta. Unlike a similar card, City of Solitude, this can be tutored for by Tezzeret the Seeker and recurred by Academy Ruins.
Ensnaring Bridge - A great tool to help prevent flyers from attacking us or our planeswalkers, seeing that Sliver Queen tokens can't do that. Plus this also helps prevent attack triggers. Even though we have a lot of tools in producing card advantage, I always seem to find myself with three or less cards in hand, which will essentially prevent any threats from attacking.
Mana Crypt - Basically Sol Ring that allows for more explosive plays. Dropping this turn one can accelerate you into some amazing early game plays, even on turn one, unlike Sol Ring. Be wary of its drawback, though. Statistically speaking, this will deal 1.5 damage per turn to you, which may not seem like a lot, but very well can add up.
Meekstone - This card serves a very similar role to Ensnaring Bridge, but probably better. Considering that it not only locks down various beefy creatures, this also is allowing for your tokens to still get in for damage when needed. In addition to that, this is tutorable by Tezzeret, the Seeker.
Nevinyrral's Disk - The original Akroma's Vengeance variant, which allows you to effectively board wipe while keeping your planeswalkers. This is probably the best of the three variants I went over since it can be tutor for by Tezzeret the Seeker and recurred by Academy Ruins.
Rings of Brighthearth - Another one of those cards that just play really well with the superfriends archetype, being able to copy planeswalker's abilities, but this one goes beyond the loyalty activations. In addition to copy planeswalker activation, this allows you to copy other nice activations such as The Chain Veil, or fetchlands to allow you to ramp.
Sensei's Divining Top - Does this card really need an explanation? Other than its obvious applications, it works really when running ten fetchlands.
Sol Ring - Does THIS card really need an explanation? No, no it doesn't.
Skullclamp - This is one of the pieces that really makes Sliver Queen tick, giving her the ability to repeatable Divination. Other than that, this card really works well with the token sub theme and helps Sliver Queen getting in some more damage when needed.
Torpor Orb - When the only creature you'll be casting doesn't trigger an enter the battlefield effect, this card is where you want to be at. This Tezzeret the Seeker tutorable piece of disruption is one of the strongest in the format, shutting down some of the strongest cards in the format such as Stoneforge Mystic to the former Sylvan Primordial, R.I.P.
Land
Tundra/Underground Sea/Badlands/Taiga/Savannah/Scrubland/Volcanic Island/Bayou/Plateau/Tropical Island - The ABUR dual lands, which are the cycle of best mana sources offered to us. In terms of producing colored mana, these are the best at doing it, considering that they enter the battlefield untapped without any restrictions or drawbacks. Oh, well besides the drawback of investing multiple hundreds of dollars into just these ten cards. They are awesome, but they are not budget friendly by any means.
Hallowed Fountain/Watery Grave/Blood Crypt/Stomping Ground/Temple Garden/Godless Shrine/Steam Vents/Overgrown Tomb/Sacred Foundry/Breeding Pool - The shocklands are next best set of mana sources, which are really similar to the ABUR dual lands but have a drawback. Although they do have a drawback, these, similarly to the ABUR dual lands, are awesome because they can be tutored for by effects that search for basic land types. If you were looking for a budget alternative, these are the best for the ABUR dual lands, and they will set you back a little less than a hundred dollars. But it is probably best to run these in combination with the ABUR dual lands, to have ideal fixing because the different color requirements.
Flooded Strand/Polluted Delta/Bloodstained Mire/Wooded Foothills/Windswept Heath/Marsh Flats/Scalding Tarn/Verdant Catacombs/Arid Mesa/Misty Rainforest - These, in my opinion, are the best dual lands in the deck, and potentially in the format. In conjunction with both the shocklands and the ABUR duals, these provide the best mana fixing out of any lands. For example, if you were to have a Badlands, but needed a blue mana, you would be out of luck. Although, if you had a Bloodstained Mire, you would be able to tutor up either Volcanic Island/Steam Vents or Underground Sea/Watery Grave, allowing you to generate blue mana. Another one of the reasons why these are so important is because their synergy with Brainstorm effects, allowing you to manipulate card draw by shuffling away unwanted card. Then another reason why these lands are so awesome is because they work amazing with Crucible of Worlds, allowing you to constantly hit a land drop throughout the game. If you were to invest into a playset of dual lands, I would suggest investing into these first.
Plains/Island/Swamp/Mountain/Forest - When in doubt, run basics. Although these may be problematic when considering you are running a five colored list, if you took my advice and went out and got the fetchlands, these still can serve an awesome purpose. For one, they are the most budget friendly of all lands. Next, they protect you from non-basic land hate and they have no drawbacks. Last, you can actually use these as a strategy, including only these and a set of fetchlands to abuse non-basic land hate and punish your opponents for running nonbasic lands. Yeah, I know I am that guy that runs all nonbasics
Command Tower - Simply put this is our best mana source, producing any color we need with no drawback. Although this cannot be tutored for by fetchlands, drawing into this allows us to produce any one color we need, which can be very helpful for any five colored deck.
Mana Confluence - The next in line for five colored producing lands, this is just another tool in helping ensure that you are able to cast whatever spells, no matter the mana requirements. In comparison to its former, City of Brass, this one does a lot better of a job, mainly because you can activate it with a Chromatic Lantern in play.
City of Brass - Another five colored land that requires just the cost of life. As stated above, City of Brass is probably the weaker of the two. Also, it should be noted, that when contemplating between this and Mana Confluence, an opponent can tap this down, which will deal one damage to you.
Exotic Orchid - Another rainbow land variant, I would most likely not recommend this one, due to the fact that it is dependent on what your opponents are playing.
Reflecting Pool - Similar to Exotic Orchid, this is definitely the better of the two since it is affected by what lands you are playing, which you are allowed to control. If you are worried about fixing, you can replace one of your utility lands with this.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Turning your lands into tri-colored lands is always nice, and this can really help. In addition to that, this turns cards that don't originally tap for mana, such as Maze of Ith or fetchlands (allowing you to save a point of life), to tap for mana.
Kor Haven - The second Fog land variants, which are essential for protecting your planeswalkers from different attacks, namely aerial assaults. Kor Haven is nice because it not only keep the creature tapped after attacking, another thing is that Kor Haven produces mana, unlike Maze of Ith. The only drawback is that this activation costs two mana.
Kher Keep - Token production on a land? I'll take it! This serves a similar role as Kor Haven, allowing you to create a token in response to an attack.
Springjack Pasture - Similar to Kher Keep, but with a pricier activation. The ability in which you sacrifice goats is probably irrelevant, considering you aren't going to have a battlefield full of goats most of the time with an activation cost of 4.
Alchemist's Refuge - A nice utility land that allows you to wrath, play planeswalkers, and do other nice interactions at instant speed.
Vesuva - Free land copies are always nice, specially when you have utility lands such as Maze of Ith.
Thespian's Stage - Similar to Vesuva, this allows you to copy lands but also to play this and tap it for mana in the same turn. Oh, and if you're staring down a Dark Depths for some reason, punish your opponent by playing this and copying it.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Probably not something I would suggest running, since this shocks you whenever you tap it for mana and it comes into play tapped, this is a nice answer to a heavy blue control meta. Also, this allows you to push through spells that are crucial, such as Debt to the Deathless and Time Warp.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale - Just an absolute powerhouse. If it weren't for the fact that we have a small token sub theme, therefore don't want to be paying one mana for all of our little guys when that ball gets-a-rolling, then this would be in here. If you aren't a fan of the token sub theme, and are capable of fitting this in your budget, I would suggest finding a copy of this. Although, with that being said, since this doesn't actively produce mana, I would suggest dropping a nonland card for this to replace, instead of a land. Also, if you aren't interested in the token sub theme and don't have the budget for this, that is completely fine. It's an awesome card, but not a necessity.
Strip Mine/Wasteland - Targeted land destruction, I have found, is generally a must. Facing down something such as Cabal Coffers or a High Market, these really come in handy. Also, both of these work really well with Crucible of Worlds, although that can make you hated quite quickly.
Mystifying Maze - The least powerful of the Fog variant, so I would suggest acquiring the other two first before considering this one. Other than the fact that this costs 4 to activate, it also exiles the creature, returning the creature to the battlefield untapped, and also triggering enter the battlefield effects.
Maze of Ith - The first and most powerful of all the Fog effects, Maze of Ith sits around and fogs for nothing, protecting you and your planeswalkers. This is a staple in superfriends lists.
Just gonna post a recent game and its few highlights:
Game 1: vs. Oloro Control vs. Azami Control vs. Daxos Goodstuff
- The game started fairly slow, each player doing some fairly staple early game stuff until I landed a Crucible Worlds and Rings of Brighthearth with a fetchland in the graveyard.
-After taking two additional turns with Time Warp variants, I was on turn ten and they were still sitting around turn five.
- This quickly caused me to become archenemy, but I had such a high amount of resources and just landed a The Chain Veil that it was not very relevant.
- Kiora, the Crashing Wave was keeping most other creatures in with The Chain Veil and Rings of Brighthearth
- After both the Oloro and the Azami player tapped out, and the Daxos player was handless, I quickly resolved a Wargate for Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker to start eating permanents and stealing creatures with additional activations which essentially closed the game.
I really like this list. I have a very similar list myself. I also cut proliferation cards after playing many games. They were only sitting in my hand. Never any room to play them, and with the priting of The Chain Veil they got cut.
I have not tried the time walk effects but I would like to try. Seems very good. I run more wrath effects in my list because of a creature heavy meta. I also have The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale to give creatures upkeep. I have a token subtheme but I have been considering Sliver Hivelord as a commander as I am forced to run creature hate and an indestructible commander is good protection as well.
I really like this list. I have a very similar list myself. I also cut proliferation cards after playing many games. They were only sitting in my hand. Never any room to play them, and with the priting of The Chain Veil they got cut.
I have not tried the time walk effects but I would like to try. Seems very good. I run more wrath effects in my list because of a creature heavy meta. I also have The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale to give creatures upkeep. I have a token subtheme but I have been considering Sliver Hivelord as a commander as I am forced to run creature hate and an indestructible commander is good protection as well.
Hey, thanks for checking out my list! Would really like seeing yours sometimes to hear different feedback on card choices between your deck and mine
Anyway, I think, for the most part, wraths are usually always accepted in super friends lists. Keeping the board on lock to help accelerate your win-condition is necessary. That being said, I have found that generating tokens do that job very well, but I can say that I have been having some trouble with flying creatures as of late. I may end up cutting some token generating effects for more wraths.
Yeah, as I said above, I ran an Angus Mackenzie super friends list for a period of time, and really enjoyed it. I think in terms of three colored lists, Bant offers the best selection for planeswalkers and planeswalker support. Although I have really enjoyed the five color theme and really wanted access to all planeswalkers, such as Nicol Bolas, so that it truly felt like a super friends deck.
As for cards you are recommending:
Genesis Wave - I really like this, and have never even considered it for this deck. I think managing to generate GGG wouldn't be too bad when you are trying to cast this. My only problem with it is that it is a dead card when you draw it early in the game, sort of like Debt to the Deathless and Exsanguinate, but I believe those are a little more versatile and game-winning. Definetely something to think about.
Gilder Bairn - Basically what you said. Without an effect to tap it, it is pretty bad. Also I think being able to have a creatureless deck is really cool for the theme.
Umezawa's Jitte - Not really seeing the synergy here, unless you are running a proliferate deck. Also, without any creatures to equip this to (besides tokens and Sliver Queen) it is a dead card.
Prismatic Omen - This was actually in my list for a lot of the deck's history. Although I found with the fixing I have, this was not necessary. When your fixing is completely fine, and you draw this, it's just a dead card. Compared to Chromatic Lantern, which at least ramps and can be tutored for by Tezzeret the Seeker. But if you are running fixing that is not ideal, or are just worried about fixing in general, this is not a bad choice.
Spike Weaver - This is definetely something I could see myself considering, but then again I think Peacekeeper might just be better. This combos really well with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, although I don't run that card, I probably would if I ran this.
Spike Feeder - The life gain seems pretty marginal, and would probably only work well if I wanted to infinite combo, which I try to stay away from.
Inexorable Tide - I go over this briefly in my card selection section. If I wanted to push the proliferate envelope a little bit, I think this is where I would start.
Copy Enchantment - I had tested this for a brief period of time, and I often found it to just be a dead card. With Doubling Season, I think it is just win more. I could see myself potentially considering Clever Impersonator to fill this kind of roll, and to never really be a dead card.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Would really like some more feedback to continue to progress this deck, and hopefully earn primer status on it eventually.
For those interested in the super friends play style, what is your opinion of Sorin, Solemn Visitor? He seems really good with the token strategy, but without creatures on board you really have to hope you have enough to minus him to get any use out of him.
I like him but I'm not 100 percent sure I'll add him. 4 mana 4 loyalty starting is great. His +1 is good IF you have other tokens, but hey, he makes tokens himself! The second ability is expencive but very good. A 2/2 flier is great walker protection. And if you have one or two of these you can fly in for a great amount of damage and gain some life with the +1 ability. My walker deck (I'll post it here when I have the time)has fetchlands, shocklands, Phyrexian arena, vampiric and imperial tutor and other things that damages me. So lifegain is never wrong. His ultimate is awesome I think, and he can activate it right away with Doubling Season. He doesn't leave the board either.
Rings of Brighthearth makes him even better (duh). You can make double the tokens and if you manage to ultimate your opponents have to sac two creatures a turn. I1m thinking bout replacing Sorin, LOI with this guy. I think he is slightly better overal
Artifacts:9
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Scroll Rack
1 Torpor Orb
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 The Chain Veil
I like him but I'm not 100 percent sure I'll add him. 4 mana 4 loyalty starting is great. His +1 is good IF you have other tokens, but hey, he makes tokens himself! The second ability is expencive but very good. A 2/2 flier is great walker protection. And if you have one or two of these you can fly in for a great amount of damage and gain some life with the +1 ability. My walker deck (I'll post it here when I have the time)has fetchlands, shocklands, Phyrexian arena, vampiric and imperial tutor and other things that damages me. So lifegain is never wrong. His ultimate is awesome I think, and he can activate it right away with Doubling Season. He doesn't leave the board either.
Rings of Brighthearth makes him even better (duh). You can make double the tokens and if you manage to ultimate your opponents have to sac two creatures a turn. I1m thinking bout replacing Sorin, LOI with this guy. I think he is slightly better overal
I feel the exact same. He seems pretty good at helping you sustain your life total, but his plus is really "bleh" without a decent board state. I think in comparison to Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, they seem about equal. Solemn Visitor probably has a higher chance of cracking his ultimate, though. Plus my deck has had a problem with answering flying creatures, which his "-2:" does quite well. I think I'll end up making the swap for testing purposes.
I like your list a lot, well, maybe because we share probably about 80% of our decks. Few cards I am curious about:
Ajani Steadfast - How has he been? Every other super friends list on here seems to foam out the mouth over him, but I'm imagining it's only because he has an activation that actually mentions "planeswalker". His plus seem dead almost all of the time, and his minus most of the time. Sure his ultimate is AMAZING, but you can't really judge a planeswalker based on their ultimate.
Gemstone Mine - Seems alright, but at the same time, I don't want to be Strip Mined after the third turn I use it. Speaking of Strip Mine, do you have any utility land you encounter in your meta? I added both Strip Mine and Wasteland to answer stuff like Cabal Coffers and it has worked out awesome for me.
Maelstrom Nexus - I am really curious about this card. I have considered testing it a few times, but was worried that it's mana restrictions were sorta rough, and whenever I tried to make room it was really rough trying to find a spot.
I have a small planeswalker theme in my uwr deck, and your points of view about each of the walkers is useful for my selection so thank you
Sure, no problem! I'm sure since are decklists are not the same strategy, planeswalkers mean different things to different decks. With that being said, feel free to ask me for some more input, as I would welcome any input you have! I'm sure the card explanations could use some more detail.
It is a gif made from the RTR trailer, which I found on tumblr
Yeah, my deck has a different strategy. I'm using Ruhan as commander and playing lots of counters and removal to deal 21 commander damage.
I use the planeswalker package as a way to generate card advantage without spending mana outside the initial investment and as a wincon for the grindier games. They also work well with the sweepers I already run.
Currently I'm running:
Ajani Vengeant
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Gideon Jura
Jace, Architect of Thought
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Karn - would run both If I had them.
I'm pondering:
Ral Zarek - Could be relevant defensively, untapping Ruhan or taping blockers.
Tezzeret the Seeker - I like him, but I have few artifacts. I even created a thread asking for artifacts to run.
Jace Beleren - All his abilities draw cards, and I think I prefer instant speed draw.
Ajani Steadfast - I'm not interested in the -2, as I don't have that many walkers. But I like the +1 on the commander. Probably worse than Ral or Venser.
Dack Fayden - I would only use the looting ability, but I'm really tempted by it.
Venser, the Sojourner - the +2 ability can work as a pseudo vigilance for the commander, which helps defensively. Unblockable seems nice.
Jace, the Living Guildpact - the pseudo removal ability seems worse than a regular removal spell and the plus ability seems worse than others I could be running,
I'm not considering:
Ajani Goldmane
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - the -3 ability seems good as finisher, but not necessary. I can use Sunhome to do it without spending a card slot.
Chandra Ablaze
Chandra Nalaar
Chandra, Pyromaster
Chandra, the Firebrand
Elspeth Tirel - would just be a bad token producer or a bad sweeper
Gideon, Champion of Justice
Jace, Memory Adept
Koth of the Hammer
Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
If possible I would like your opinion on the ones I'm considering (and if I should cut the any of the ones I'm running/consider something from the last list), keeping in mind my deck is less controlling than yours and more tempoish.
Funny you should mention these cards because they are cards I'm unsure about myself. The Nexus is great when you play Garruk, Apex Predator and cascade into Elspeth, Sun's Champion..but that rarely happens. The first idsue with this card is finding a turn to play it. The mana cost has actually never been that difficult. And if you get it out it can do great things but its very random. And the opponets get worried you're gonna land something scary so it draws some hate. Its kinda like when someone sees a card that costs one of each color they assume it good because its hard to cast. I also lose control over my wrath effects because they come up often when cascading. So, yeah. A random card. Not bad but not amazing either. It might get cut.
Gemstone mine has helped at the start of the game and has been emptied fast. You can blink it with Venser, but there are other things to blink. But its also a consideration for me to cut. Wasteland and strip mine were in the deck. I cut them because of no cabal coffers in my meta. And I found it hard to combine with maze of ith and tabernacle because of colorless and no-mana producing lands in a five color deck. They are coming back though if lands turn out to be a problem in the future.
Ajani, Steadfast IS hyped. But its somewhat how you play him too. I usually don't play him until his profileration ability can set one or more planeswalkers into an important ultimate. Opponents usually wait until the turn before the ultimate to answer some walkers so its funny to suddenly go there. And I wait until Doubling Season to drop him because that usually ends in a scoop. It is not always the best to sit with cards in hand that are sub par to play outside of this. But hey, this is a control deck
It is a gif made from the RTR trailer, which I found on tumblr
Yeah, my deck has a different strategy. I'm using Ruhan as commander and playing lots of counters and removal to deal 21 commander damage.
I use the planeswalker package as a way to generate card advantage without spending mana outside the initial investment and as a wincon for the grindier games. They also work well with the sweepers I already run.
Currently I'm running:
Ajani Vengeant
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Gideon Jura
Jace, Architect of Thought
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Karn - would run both If I had them.
I'm pondering:
Ral Zarek - Could be relevant defensively, untapping Ruhan or taping blockers.
Tezzeret the Seeker - I like him, but I have few artifacts. I even created a thread asking for artifacts to run.
Jace Beleren - All his abilities draw cards, and I think I prefer instant speed draw.
Ajani Steadfast - I'm not interested in the -2, as I don't have that many walkers. But I like the +1 on the commander. Probably worse than Ral or Venser.
Dack Fayden - I would only use the looting ability, but I'm really tempted by it.
Venser, the Sojourner - the +2 ability can work as a pseudo vigilance for the commander, which helps defensively. Unblockable seems nice.
Jace, the Living Guildpact - the pseudo removal ability seems worse than a regular removal spell and the plus ability seems worse than others I could be running,
I'm not considering:
Ajani Goldmane
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - the -3 ability seems good as finisher, but not necessary. I can use Sunhome to do it without spending a card slot.
Chandra Ablaze
Chandra Nalaar
Chandra, Pyromaster
Chandra, the Firebrand
Elspeth Tirel - would just be a bad token producer or a bad sweeper
Gideon, Champion of Justice
Jace, Memory Adept
Koth of the Hammer
Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
If possible I would like your opinion on the ones I'm considering (and if I should cut the any of the ones I'm running/consider something from the last list), keeping in mind my deck is less controlling than yours and more tempoish.
Thank you again
Hey, like I said, no problem. I want to generated feedback for everyone posting and feedback from the posters for me. Anyways, here are some suggestions of mine:
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - He seems really good with Ruhan. Give him evasion, and lasting +1/+1 counters. Tezzeret the Seeker - I don't know the specifics of your list, but he generally provides crazy ramp and tutoring. Also, for Ruhan, he can grab awesome things like Sword of Feast and Famine or Sunforger. Ral Zarek - Seems pretty good to help Ruhan get in for the beats, but I'm skeptical because you aren't sure what to tap down before Ruhan attacks. Dack Fayden - He seems really good for not only his looting ability but to just steal utility artifacts. "Oh, cool Argentum Armor (if anyone plays that?) you got there. Looks like something Ruhan would like." Venser, the Sojourner - Depending on what kind of ETB effects you run, he will be a-MA-ZING. I previously ran ISBPathfinder's Jenara list, and he did work in that deck. I would suggest for you to check the list out, because I could see you finding some good inspiration from it for Ruhan.
Ajani, Steadfast IS hyped. But its somewhat how you play him too. I usually don't play him until his profileration ability can set one or more planeswalkers into an important ultimate. Opponents usually wait until the turn before the ultimate to answer some walkers so its funny to suddenly go there. And I wait until Doubling Season to drop him because that usually ends in a scoop. It is not always the best to sit with cards in hand that are sub par to play outside of this. But hey, this is a control deck
Sorta how I would imagine it would be like. I think I will eventually end up testing him, because he does provide life gain and his other abilities can be quite synergetic. As for your deck, it seems a lot less token based, therefore I would imagine he would be even less of use.
On that note, since you do not run many token producers/creatures, I'm sure Tabernacle has been doing work for you. I want to include it, but I often end games by just amassing an army of 1/1 slivers and pumping them via whatever anthem effect. Also, with that being said, have you considered Moat? I know it is a little bit pricier, but your budget seems a little higher than most.
The Tabernacle is great, but for token based strategies it hurts me for sure. But its an alternative creature hate strategy. I actually own a Moat but because of a Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck I skipped it. Do you think I should run it? And do you have experience with Ensnaring Bridge? It seems good if you have one card in hand to sneak your slivers into attacking while locking the opponent. And as for tokens Assemble the Legion looks great.
The Tabernacle is great, but for token based strategies it hurts me for sure. But its an alternative creature hate strategy. I actually own a Moat but because of a Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck I skipped it. Do you think I should run it? And do you have experience with Ensnaring Bridge? It seems good if you have one card in hand to sneak your slivers into attacking while locking the opponent. And as for tokens Assemble the Legion looks great.
I think Moat is probably a bit of a meta call. On one hand, as I said, your token strategy is not nearly as prevalent, therefore Moat probably won't really hinder you all that often. But one thing to consider is, if we have Sliver Queen on board, do we really need something to prevent us being attacked into on the ground? To be honest, probably, but it is up for debate. Second off, like I said, it is most likely a meta call. If you are running into a lot of Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or like like, I would start to consider it. But if you play with a player who plays Kaalia, as I do, Moat seems a lot less powerful. Overall I think it is an awesome card, and would probably make room for it.
As for Ensnaring Bridge, I think this card could probably make a spot. Like you said, it works really well with cards like Assemble the Legion, while still shutting of the big beaters. Between this and Moat, I would probably first suggest this. Then if you need more protection, I would move to Moat, in addition to Ensnaring Bridge.
Another card I have been wanting to test, but don't own and not sure if I want to buy, is The Abyss. It seems amazing for this deck, but unfortunately it not only targets but also destroys. So it does not get around hexproof or indestructible. Furthermore, it doesn't hit artifact creatures. I still think it is something to consider, but for now I'm definitely considering Ensnaring Bridge. I'm gonna think about what I would want to cut tonight, and look into it.
Oh man, now I want the Abyss! Its not cheap though. How nice would it have been if it read; "At the beginning of each players upkeep that player sacrifices a creature." Because of your post I now have a different path I might take this deck. I'm thinking complete creature hate with Moat, The Abyss, Ensnaring Bridge, Humility, Tabernacle and with Sliver Hivelord as the commander (survives Abyss). Problem is more limited win conditions. And the Hivelord needs a few more punches to win than the Queen.
I'll probably pass Ajani, Caller because he is only good with the commander.
I have very few artifacts right now and a low curve, but I'll probably add some more to justify Tezzeret. I do run Sword.
I don't see many artifacts to steal with Dack. I'll wait on the price to drop and probably add him latter.
I see Ajani Steadfast, Ral and Venser mostly as the same effect: Untapping/giving vigilance to Ruhan. Ajani offers lifegain, Venser (I don't run many other creatures in the deck) gives unblockability and Ral can be removal. All of them can be decent but I'm not sure which one would be the best or if I would play more than one of them.
You mention you are trying Jace, Living Guildpact, how has he been?
Thoughts on Teferi, Temporal Archmage in this archtype?
Also, Liliana of the Veil could earn a spot with Ensnaring Bridge in the deck. And for a sacrificing Abyss there is Call to the Grave, but it has a couple of issues that balance the upside.
Oh man, now I want the Abyss! Its not cheap though. How nice would it have been if it read; "At the beginning of each players upkeep that player sacrifices a creature." Because of your post I now have a different path I might take this deck. I'm thinking complete creature hate with Moat, The Abyss, Ensnaring Bridge, Humility, Tabernacle and with Sliver Hivelord as the commander (survives Abyss). Problem is more limited win conditions. And the Hivelord needs a few more punches to win than the Queen.
Oh, it would be so much nicer. It would be a staple. But, I do like where you are going. If I end up changing the route a little bit of this deck, and making it a little more controlly/staxy, I most definitely will include that list of cards. Anyways, my opinions of Hivelord vs. Queen:
In terms of closing the game via general damage, clearly Sliver Queen has the advantage of being a three-turn clock, but Sliver Hivelord is indestructible. Although I would still suggest keeping the Queen around if you end up adding The Abyss. Here's why:
- Start your turn (The Abyss on board)
- Untap
- Create a Sliver token
- Upkeep
- The Abyss triggers
- Kill the token
Also I think Sliver Queen just outclasses all other five color commanders for super friends.
I'll probably pass Ajani, Caller because he is only good with the commander.
I have very few artifacts right now and a low curve, but I'll probably add some more to justify Tezzeret. I do run Sword.
I don't see many artifacts to steal with Dack. I'll wait on the price to drop and probably add him latter.
I see Ajani Steadfast, Ral and Venser mostly as the same effect: Untapping/giving vigilance to Ruhan. Ajani offers lifegain, Venser (I don't run many other creatures in the deck) gives unblockability and Ral can be removal. All of them can be decent but I'm not sure which one would be the best or if I would play more than one of them.
You mention you are trying Jace, Living Guildpact, how has he been?
Thoughts on Teferi, Temporal Archmage in this archtype?
Also, Liliana of the Veil could earn a spot with Ensnaring Bridge in the deck. And for a sacrificing Abyss there is Call to the Grave, but it has a couple of issues that balance the upside.
I think your choices are solid, and like I said, I don't know your list completely so I cannot make full judgement.
Anyways, Jace, the Living Guildpact has been alright, thus far. Although during the late game he is sorta "meh." I think I'll continue to test him, just to evaluate him, but I can almost certainly say that Teferi, Temporal Archmage will take his spot, unless he deserves his spot, then Teferi will take the spot of something else. That being said, I really like Teferi. He digs two deep, while drawing you a card, and he makes a great untap engine. Oh, and don't get me started on his ultimate. While it is pretty hard to crack off, I know doing so will make for the funnest of games. Right now I'm still evaluating Ensnaring Bridge, but I am almost certain I'm going to find a spot for it. Once KTK comes out, I'll post an update which will include Ensnaring Bridge, most likely. So once I get to play with it for a bit, I'll then probably test Liliana. I had considered her before, but she generally gets cut for space reasons and her plus can be a little difficult to take advantage of.
What do you think of the new Sarkhan? I can't make up my mind about him. Frist ability seems alright. Second too, but its expensive. Ultimate looks great lategame but I would not use that ability without the resorces to cast what I draw.
Teferi looks tailored for SuperFriends. All the abilities very relevant. I will find a spot for him for sure. I have already added Ensnaring Bridge and Moat to the deck. Will playtest with them today. Considering getting The Abyss too.
Sarkhan doesn't seem to be that good in the builds you guys are playing. He is a little too aggressive for the strategy and Gideon would be better in the role of kill a couple of creatures and attack. He also protects other planeswalkers. Also, Gideon is cool with Abyss variants.
Sarkhan doesn't seem to be that good in the builds you guys are playing. He is a little too aggressive for the strategy and Gideon would be better in the role of kill a couple of creatures and attack. He also protects other planeswalkers. Also, Gideon is cool with Abyss variants.
Yeah, Teferi looks good.
Teferi will be included for sure. Will there be planeswalker commanders for the other decks out of Commander 2014 too? Gideon I've considered a few times but he never quite made it. I think I'll get an Abyss for the deck. Seems very solid and if it draws a Vindicate then thats one less Vindicate on my walkers. I saw you mentioned Liliana of the Veil earlier in the thread. She's been amazing actually. She is three mana and if you get her out early and use the +1 ability you have to creatures you can get rid of as they come out. Onboard removal is great. I guess she is better in one on one games but still worth playing if you ask me.
Teferi will be included for sure. Will there be planeswalker commanders for the other decks out of Commander 2014 too? Gideon I've considered a few times but he never quite made it. I think I'll get an Abyss for the deck. Seems very solid and if it draws a Vindicate then thats one less Vindicate on my walkers. I saw you mentioned Liliana of the Veil earlier in the thread. She's been amazing actually. She is three mana and if you get her out early and use the +1 ability you have to creatures you can get rid of as they come out. Onboard removal is great. I guess she is better in one on one games but still worth playing if you ask me.
Yeah, I think Sarkhan is quite slow and doesn't really advance our board position all too well. But he will do a fine job in standard! I tested Gideon for a bit, who seems like a superior Sarkhan, and he did not make the cut. He just didn't do enough of what we needed. Anyways, yeah every C14 precon will have a "planeswalker general". If there power levels are similar to Teferi's, I imagine they will most likely all find a spot. Teferi just seems bonkers. On Liliana, I'm skeptical. Like you said she is clearly better in the solo match-up, but without the ability to use her plus to our advantage, she doesn't really do much. Sure she can serve as psuedo-removal on board, but I think I would rather just have a wrath.
I will leave this up for anyone looking though. Thank you all for years!
With this section what I am going to try and do is to give both explanations for cards included in the list and options that are currently out of the deck. Since this is a five color list, you could include any card you wanted to in the deck, but instead I am just going to review cards I feel could potentially deserve a spot. If you feel there's a card I am missing in this section, feel free to make suggestions! I know there's a lot of different options for the superfriends archetype, so if I miss one feel free to point it out.
NOTE: Cards featured in bold indicate cards that are currently featured in my list. I will do my best to keep this updated, but if this ever differs from the decklist in the original post, trust the original to determine what the updated decklist is.
Liliana Vess - One of my favorite team players. If she isn't attacked, she can tutor twice and still stay on the board. One of the better planeswalkers to draw into during the late game.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath - Probably what this guy does best is offset all of the life lost during this game, while making big chump blockers to boot.
Sorin Markov - Sorin is basically the chief of the Life Gain Enforcement Agency. You know that you often times run into that player who, through some method, ends up at 100+ life and is basically guaranteed the win. This is what Sorin is for. Even if a certain player isn't at a high life total, ten life is in the danger zone. Other than that, his plus can be nice removal on small guys and his ultimate can be fairly back breaking.
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Makes chump blockers that gain life while chumping, creates an emblem that anthems, and his ultimate is pretty nice. If you don't include the token subtheme, he may not be the best fit.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor - This Sorin provides a life gain element and also an ability to create flying chump blockers. In addition to that, his ultimate is really nice removal which will most likely win you the game.
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury - Her plus one reads a lot more than it says. First off, the obvious, it provides some ramp, but it also creates chump blockers. In addition to that, picking off things such as a Sword of Feast and Famine or Omniscience.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts - This Garruk literally does nothing in this deck.
Garruk, Primal Hunter - Another really good planeswalker. He draws card, creates a beefy token, and his ultimate provides a win-condition.
Garruk, Apex Predator - Probably the most intimidating thing for us to be starring down, but he also does very well in helping us. His first plus is a little narrow, but alas, he's a four ability 'walker! Creating a 3/3 deathtoucher is awesome, removal is nice, and if there's a problem opponent, his ultimate is a nice target on their head.
Nissa Revane - Another planeswalker that literally does nothing in this deck.
[*} Narset, Enlightened Master - This card seems pretty awesome for a deck that runs no creature. She basically has an attack trigger that lets you draw four cards AND play them, without paying their mana cost. I'm not entirely sure that I want to break the creaturelessness feel to the deck, but it is something I am considering to run her. Although she is a bit pricey, which will raise my curve.
The Chain Veil - This is to artifact as Doubling Season is to enchantment. Basically, you want this in your deck if you're playing superfriends. Allowing you to activate your planeswalkers multiple times in a turn pushes the deck that much more, giving it even more "umph".
- Chromatic Lantern - Probably the best fixer in the format, period. Other than the fact that it completely fixes your mana, it ramps! I would most likely include this in every five color deck.
- Contagion Clasp/Contagion Engine - I know a lot of superfriends players play into the proliferate theme, allowing your planeswalker to ultimate turns before expected. I would suggest these guys are some of the best cards at doing that because the effects are reusable, and double as removal. Plus both of these can be tutored for and abused by Tezzeret the Seeker to boot.
- Crucible of Worlds - I went into detail a little bit on this card in the strategy section, but this card is insane with ten fetchlands. It fixes your mana, ensures land drops, slowly thins your deck, lets you shuffle away unwanted draws with Jace, the Mindsculptor, and can help you recover from mass land destruction. If you chose not to run fetchlands I would most likely drop this.
- Defense Grid - More of a meta dependent choice, but this can always really help against a heavy counterspell control meta. Unlike a similar card, City of Solitude, this can be tutored for by Tezzeret the Seeker and recurred by Academy Ruins.
- Ensnaring Bridge - A great tool to help prevent flyers from attacking us or our planeswalkers, seeing that Sliver Queen tokens can't do that. Plus this also helps prevent attack triggers. Even though we have a lot of tools in producing card advantage, I always seem to find myself with three or less cards in hand, which will essentially prevent any threats from attacking.
- Expedition Map - A nice way to tutor for utility lands that help your strategy such as Kor Haven and Maze of Ith.
- Mana Crypt - Basically Sol Ring that allows for more explosive plays. Dropping this turn one can accelerate you into some amazing early game plays, even on turn one, unlike Sol Ring. Be wary of its drawback, though. Statistically speaking, this will deal 1.5 damage per turn to you, which may not seem like a lot, but very well can add up.
- Meekstone - This card serves a very similar role to Ensnaring Bridge, but probably better. Considering that it not only locks down various beefy creatures, this also is allowing for your tokens to still get in for damage when needed. In addition to that, this is tutorable by Tezzeret, the Seeker.
- Nevinyrral's Disk - The original Akroma's Vengeance variant, which allows you to effectively board wipe while keeping your planeswalkers. This is probably the best of the three variants I went over since it can be tutor for by Tezzeret the Seeker and recurred by Academy Ruins.
- Rings of Brighthearth - Another one of those cards that just play really well with the superfriends archetype, being able to copy planeswalker's abilities, but this one goes beyond the loyalty activations. In addition to copy planeswalker activation, this allows you to copy other nice activations such as The Chain Veil, or fetchlands to allow you to ramp.
- Sensei's Divining Top - Does this card really need an explanation? Other than its obvious applications, it works really when running ten fetchlands.
- Sol Ring - Does THIS card really need an explanation? No, no it doesn't.
- Skullclamp - This is one of the pieces that really makes Sliver Queen tick, giving her the ability to repeatable Divination. Other than that, this card really works well with the token sub theme and helps Sliver Queen getting in some more damage when needed.
- Torpor Orb - When the only creature you'll be casting doesn't trigger an enter the battlefield effect, this card is where you want to be at. This Tezzeret the Seeker tutorable piece of disruption is one of the strongest in the format, shutting down some of the strongest cards in the format such as Stoneforge Mystic to the former Sylvan Primordial, R.I.P.
Game 1: vs. Oloro Control vs. Azami Control vs. Daxos Goodstuff
- The game started fairly slow, each player doing some fairly staple early game stuff until I landed a Crucible Worlds and Rings of Brighthearth with a fetchland in the graveyard.
-After taking two additional turns with Time Warp variants, I was on turn ten and they were still sitting around turn five.
- This quickly caused me to become archenemy, but I had such a high amount of resources and just landed a The Chain Veil that it was not very relevant.
- Kiora, the Crashing Wave was keeping most other creatures in with The Chain Veil and Rings of Brighthearth
- After both the Oloro and the Azami player tapped out, and the Daxos player was handless, I quickly resolved a Wargate for Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker to start eating permanents and stealing creatures with additional activations which essentially closed the game.
I have not tried the time walk effects but I would like to try. Seems very good. I run more wrath effects in my list because of a creature heavy meta. I also have The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale to give creatures upkeep. I have a token subtheme but I have been considering Sliver Hivelord as a commander as I am forced to run creature hate and an indestructible commander is good protection as well.
Hey, thanks for checking out my list! Would really like seeing yours sometimes to hear different feedback on card choices between your deck and mine
Anyway, I think, for the most part, wraths are usually always accepted in super friends lists. Keeping the board on lock to help accelerate your win-condition is necessary. That being said, I have found that generating tokens do that job very well, but I can say that I have been having some trouble with flying creatures as of late. I may end up cutting some token generating effects for more wraths.
Yeah, as I said above, I ran an Angus Mackenzie super friends list for a period of time, and really enjoyed it. I think in terms of three colored lists, Bant offers the best selection for planeswalkers and planeswalker support. Although I have really enjoyed the five color theme and really wanted access to all planeswalkers, such as Nicol Bolas, so that it truly felt like a super friends deck.
As for cards you are recommending:
Genesis Wave - I really like this, and have never even considered it for this deck. I think managing to generate GGG wouldn't be too bad when you are trying to cast this. My only problem with it is that it is a dead card when you draw it early in the game, sort of like Debt to the Deathless and Exsanguinate, but I believe those are a little more versatile and game-winning. Definetely something to think about.
Gilder Bairn - Basically what you said. Without an effect to tap it, it is pretty bad. Also I think being able to have a creatureless deck is really cool for the theme.
Umezawa's Jitte - Not really seeing the synergy here, unless you are running a proliferate deck. Also, without any creatures to equip this to (besides tokens and Sliver Queen) it is a dead card.
Prismatic Omen - This was actually in my list for a lot of the deck's history. Although I found with the fixing I have, this was not necessary. When your fixing is completely fine, and you draw this, it's just a dead card. Compared to Chromatic Lantern, which at least ramps and can be tutored for by Tezzeret the Seeker. But if you are running fixing that is not ideal, or are just worried about fixing in general, this is not a bad choice.
Spike Weaver - This is definetely something I could see myself considering, but then again I think Peacekeeper might just be better. This combos really well with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, although I don't run that card, I probably would if I ran this.
Spike Feeder - The life gain seems pretty marginal, and would probably only work well if I wanted to infinite combo, which I try to stay away from.
Inexorable Tide - I go over this briefly in my card selection section. If I wanted to push the proliferate envelope a little bit, I think this is where I would start.
Copy Enchantment - I had tested this for a brief period of time, and I often found it to just be a dead card. With Doubling Season, I think it is just win more. I could see myself potentially considering Clever Impersonator to fill this kind of roll, and to never really be a dead card.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions! Would really like some more feedback to continue to progress this deck, and hopefully earn primer status on it eventually.
Rings of Brighthearth makes him even better (duh). You can make double the tokens and if you manage to ultimate your opponents have to sac two creatures a turn. I1m thinking bout replacing Sorin, LOI with this guy. I think he is slightly better overal
Creatures:2
1 Academy Rector
1 Sliver Queen
Artifacts:9
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Scroll Rack
1 Torpor Orb
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 The Chain Veil
Sorceries:18
1 Imperial Seal
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Farseek
1 Regrowth
1 Genesis Wave
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Vindicate
1 Wargate
1 Damnation
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Terminus
1 Decree of Pain
Instants:4
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Chaos Warp
Enchantments:7
1 Sylvan Library
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Humility
1 Doubling Season
1 Maelstrom Nexus
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Privileged Position
Others:23
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Dack Fayden
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Ajani Steadfast
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1 Ral Zarek
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sarkhan the Mad
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Vraska the Unseen
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Sorin Markov
1 Garruk, Apex Predator
1 Karn Liberated
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Lands:37
1 Arid Mesa
1 Badlands
1 Bayou
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mana Confluence
1 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plateau
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Taiga
1 Temple Garden
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volcanic Island
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
Feel free to ask me about any cards and please make suggestions
I feel the exact same. He seems pretty good at helping you sustain your life total, but his plus is really "bleh" without a decent board state. I think in comparison to Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, they seem about equal. Solemn Visitor probably has a higher chance of cracking his ultimate, though. Plus my deck has had a problem with answering flying creatures, which his "-2:" does quite well. I think I'll end up making the swap for testing purposes.
I like your list a lot, well, maybe because we share probably about 80% of our decks. Few cards I am curious about:
Ajani Steadfast - How has he been? Every other super friends list on here seems to foam out the mouth over him, but I'm imagining it's only because he has an activation that actually mentions "planeswalker". His plus seem dead almost all of the time, and his minus most of the time. Sure his ultimate is AMAZING, but you can't really judge a planeswalker based on their ultimate.
Gemstone Mine - Seems alright, but at the same time, I don't want to be Strip Mined after the third turn I use it. Speaking of Strip Mine, do you have any utility land you encounter in your meta? I added both Strip Mine and Wasteland to answer stuff like Cabal Coffers and it has worked out awesome for me.
Maelstrom Nexus - I am really curious about this card. I have considered testing it a few times, but was worried that it's mana restrictions were sorta rough, and whenever I tried to make room it was really rough trying to find a spot.
Sure, no problem! I'm sure since are decklists are not the same strategy, planeswalkers mean different things to different decks. With that being said, feel free to ask me for some more input, as I would welcome any input you have! I'm sure the card explanations could use some more detail.
BTW. I really like your thumbnail.
Yeah, my deck has a different strategy. I'm using Ruhan as commander and playing lots of counters and removal to deal 21 commander damage.
I use the planeswalker package as a way to generate card advantage without spending mana outside the initial investment and as a wincon for the grindier games. They also work well with the sweepers I already run.
Currently I'm running:
Ajani Vengeant
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Gideon Jura
Jace, Architect of Thought
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Karn - would run both If I had them.
I'm pondering:
Ral Zarek - Could be relevant defensively, untapping Ruhan or taping blockers.
Tezzeret the Seeker - I like him, but I have few artifacts. I even created a thread asking for artifacts to run.
Jace Beleren - All his abilities draw cards, and I think I prefer instant speed draw.
Ajani Steadfast - I'm not interested in the -2, as I don't have that many walkers. But I like the +1 on the commander. Probably worse than Ral or Venser.
Dack Fayden - I would only use the looting ability, but I'm really tempted by it.
Venser, the Sojourner - the +2 ability can work as a pseudo vigilance for the commander, which helps defensively. Unblockable seems nice.
Jace, the Living Guildpact - the pseudo removal ability seems worse than a regular removal spell and the plus ability seems worse than others I could be running,
I'm not considering:
Ajani Goldmane
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - the -3 ability seems good as finisher, but not necessary. I can use Sunhome to do it without spending a card slot.
Chandra Ablaze
Chandra Nalaar
Chandra, Pyromaster
Chandra, the Firebrand
Elspeth Tirel - would just be a bad token producer or a bad sweeper
Gideon, Champion of Justice
Jace, Memory Adept
Koth of the Hammer
Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
If possible I would like your opinion on the ones I'm considering (and if I should cut the any of the ones I'm running/consider something from the last list), keeping in mind my deck is less controlling than yours and more tempoish.
Thank you again
Gemstone mine has helped at the start of the game and has been emptied fast. You can blink it with Venser, but there are other things to blink. But its also a consideration for me to cut. Wasteland and strip mine were in the deck. I cut them because of no cabal coffers in my meta. And I found it hard to combine with maze of ith and tabernacle because of colorless and no-mana producing lands in a five color deck. They are coming back though if lands turn out to be a problem in the future.
Ajani, Steadfast IS hyped. But its somewhat how you play him too. I usually don't play him until his profileration ability can set one or more planeswalkers into an important ultimate. Opponents usually wait until the turn before the ultimate to answer some walkers so its funny to suddenly go there. And I wait until Doubling Season to drop him because that usually ends in a scoop. It is not always the best to sit with cards in hand that are sub par to play outside of this. But hey, this is a control deck
Hey, like I said, no problem. I want to generated feedback for everyone posting and feedback from the posters for me. Anyways, here are some suggestions of mine:
Ajani, Caller of the Pride - He seems really good with Ruhan. Give him evasion, and lasting +1/+1 counters.
Tezzeret the Seeker - I don't know the specifics of your list, but he generally provides crazy ramp and tutoring. Also, for Ruhan, he can grab awesome things like Sword of Feast and Famine or Sunforger.
Ral Zarek - Seems pretty good to help Ruhan get in for the beats, but I'm skeptical because you aren't sure what to tap down before Ruhan attacks.
Dack Fayden - He seems really good for not only his looting ability but to just steal utility artifacts. "Oh, cool Argentum Armor (if anyone plays that?) you got there. Looks like something Ruhan would like."
Venser, the Sojourner - Depending on what kind of ETB effects you run, he will be a-MA-ZING. I previously ran ISBPathfinder's Jenara list, and he did work in that deck. I would suggest for you to check the list out, because I could see you finding some good inspiration from it for Ruhan.
Sorta how I would imagine it would be like. I think I will eventually end up testing him, because he does provide life gain and his other abilities can be quite synergetic. As for your deck, it seems a lot less token based, therefore I would imagine he would be even less of use.
On that note, since you do not run many token producers/creatures, I'm sure Tabernacle has been doing work for you. I want to include it, but I often end games by just amassing an army of 1/1 slivers and pumping them via whatever anthem effect. Also, with that being said, have you considered Moat? I know it is a little bit pricier, but your budget seems a little higher than most.
I think Moat is probably a bit of a meta call. On one hand, as I said, your token strategy is not nearly as prevalent, therefore Moat probably won't really hinder you all that often. But one thing to consider is, if we have Sliver Queen on board, do we really need something to prevent us being attacked into on the ground? To be honest, probably, but it is up for debate. Second off, like I said, it is most likely a meta call. If you are running into a lot of Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or like like, I would start to consider it. But if you play with a player who plays Kaalia, as I do, Moat seems a lot less powerful. Overall I think it is an awesome card, and would probably make room for it.
As for Ensnaring Bridge, I think this card could probably make a spot. Like you said, it works really well with cards like Assemble the Legion, while still shutting of the big beaters. Between this and Moat, I would probably first suggest this. Then if you need more protection, I would move to Moat, in addition to Ensnaring Bridge.
Another card I have been wanting to test, but don't own and not sure if I want to buy, is The Abyss. It seems amazing for this deck, but unfortunately it not only targets but also destroys. So it does not get around hexproof or indestructible. Furthermore, it doesn't hit artifact creatures. I still think it is something to consider, but for now I'm definitely considering Ensnaring Bridge. I'm gonna think about what I would want to cut tonight, and look into it.
I'll probably pass Ajani, Caller because he is only good with the commander.
I have very few artifacts right now and a low curve, but I'll probably add some more to justify Tezzeret. I do run Sword.
I don't see many artifacts to steal with Dack. I'll wait on the price to drop and probably add him latter.
I see Ajani Steadfast, Ral and Venser mostly as the same effect: Untapping/giving vigilance to Ruhan. Ajani offers lifegain, Venser (I don't run many other creatures in the deck) gives unblockability and Ral can be removal. All of them can be decent but I'm not sure which one would be the best or if I would play more than one of them.
You mention you are trying Jace, Living Guildpact, how has he been?
Thoughts on Teferi, Temporal Archmage in this archtype?
Also, Liliana of the Veil could earn a spot with Ensnaring Bridge in the deck. And for a sacrificing Abyss there is Call to the Grave, but it has a couple of issues that balance the upside.
Oh, it would be so much nicer. It would be a staple. But, I do like where you are going. If I end up changing the route a little bit of this deck, and making it a little more controlly/staxy, I most definitely will include that list of cards. Anyways, my opinions of Hivelord vs. Queen:
In terms of closing the game via general damage, clearly Sliver Queen has the advantage of being a three-turn clock, but Sliver Hivelord is indestructible. Although I would still suggest keeping the Queen around if you end up adding The Abyss. Here's why:
- Start your turn (The Abyss on board)
- Untap
- Create a Sliver token
- Upkeep
- The Abyss triggers
- Kill the token
Also I think Sliver Queen just outclasses all other five color commanders for super friends.
I think your choices are solid, and like I said, I don't know your list completely so I cannot make full judgement.
Anyways, Jace, the Living Guildpact has been alright, thus far. Although during the late game he is sorta "meh." I think I'll continue to test him, just to evaluate him, but I can almost certainly say that Teferi, Temporal Archmage will take his spot, unless he deserves his spot, then Teferi will take the spot of something else. That being said, I really like Teferi. He digs two deep, while drawing you a card, and he makes a great untap engine. Oh, and don't get me started on his ultimate. While it is pretty hard to crack off, I know doing so will make for the funnest of games. Right now I'm still evaluating Ensnaring Bridge, but I am almost certain I'm going to find a spot for it. Once KTK comes out, I'll post an update which will include Ensnaring Bridge, most likely. So once I get to play with it for a bit, I'll then probably test Liliana. I had considered her before, but she generally gets cut for space reasons and her plus can be a little difficult to take advantage of.
Teferi looks tailored for SuperFriends. All the abilities very relevant. I will find a spot for him for sure. I have already added Ensnaring Bridge and Moat to the deck. Will playtest with them today. Considering getting The Abyss too.
Yeah, Teferi looks good.
Teferi will be included for sure. Will there be planeswalker commanders for the other decks out of Commander 2014 too? Gideon I've considered a few times but he never quite made it. I think I'll get an Abyss for the deck. Seems very solid and if it draws a Vindicate then thats one less Vindicate on my walkers. I saw you mentioned Liliana of the Veil earlier in the thread. She's been amazing actually. She is three mana and if you get her out early and use the +1 ability you have to creatures you can get rid of as they come out. Onboard removal is great. I guess she is better in one on one games but still worth playing if you ask me.
Yeah, I think Sarkhan is quite slow and doesn't really advance our board position all too well. But he will do a fine job in standard! I tested Gideon for a bit, who seems like a superior Sarkhan, and he did not make the cut. He just didn't do enough of what we needed. Anyways, yeah every C14 precon will have a "planeswalker general". If there power levels are similar to Teferi's, I imagine they will most likely all find a spot. Teferi just seems bonkers. On Liliana, I'm skeptical. Like you said she is clearly better in the solo match-up, but without the ability to use her plus to our advantage, she doesn't really do much. Sure she can serve as psuedo-removal on board, but I think I would rather just have a wrath.