MTG Salvation

Hey All

Im new to this forum so please inform me if im doing anything wrong or odd but i joined to help recieve advice on my decks and share whatever knowledge i have to offer to those interested in it.

Which leads me to the Deck. Dakkon Blackblade is one of my absolute favourite cards in all of MTG, naturally it was a prime choice for an EDH deck for me considering it also came in my favourite shard as well (i mean who doesnt love esper :P).

The current build, as organised in cmc



So im looking to continue to refine this deck further but first just a quick explanation of some of my decisions.

HOW I PLAY IT

Originally this deck was build as a control/voltron deck however as time has gone on the deck has lost a few of the more voltron elements that it use to run (e.g more swords, kaldra set ect.) just because i found that dakkon's natural buff was more often the reason for his fatal attacks, many games i would not even get a piece of equipment on him and he was alpha striking the table, thus i removed most of them.

In the early game, as stated, the deck plays control. removing threats, playing my own minor threats, countering dangerous plays and drawing into my needed win cons as control deck would behave. with my playgroup being mostly multiplayer it can be relatively easy to ghost under the radar until its time to kill. it can perform well in a one on one but you need some good draws

i use card such as Ashling, the Extinguisher, Medomai the Ageless and Daxos of Meletis as my minor threats that can take advantage of the double strike and/or evasion. with Tainted Strike for when i can hit lethal infect (with dakkon or not) and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon as an alternative finisher if dakkon isn't available or the opportunity presents itself.

CARD CATEGORIES

Double strike Enablers

• Ajani, Caller of the Pride (gives evasion with it love your stuff ajani)
  
• True Conviction
  
• Silverblade Paladin

Evasion

• Rogue's Passage
  
• Mother of Runes (doubles as protection)
  
• Eight-and-a-Half-Tails (doubles as protection)
  
• Thassa, God of the Sea (doubles as draw fixing)
  
• Archetype of Imagination
  
• Sword of Feast and Famine (very specific evasion but none the less )
  
• Dauthi Embrace

Alternate Win-Cons

• Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
  
• Tainted Strike
  
• Sorin Markov (puts them in a more reasonable swing range)
  
• Umezawa's Jitte (i mean come on, this card does insane things, i have won off a glen elendra with it)

The rest is basically counters, removal, draw, disruption, copying and stealing, everything needed to keep my opponents busy while the shadow takes it's place

hopefully its all pretty straightforward but if there is anything that needs clarification dont hesitate to ask :). i have had this deck for a long time and refined it quite alot which makes it harder to make changes. and im looking for some fresh ideas. i am looking at adding Necropolis Regent as it could help put Dakkon in lethal range quickly or even turn a minor threat into a 'poo your pants' powerhouse, but would love some outside (and more experted :P) opinons

Thankyou in advance

Solid first post, I have to congratulate you. Using deck/card tags well, solid mana base, optimal cards, sorting by casting cost and even explaining the deck. The deck itself is solid although I am not a huge fan of Dauthi Embrace - Whispersilk Cloak might be a better fit - but that is a quibble.

My only problem with it is the general - you are essentially playing a goodstuff deck with Daakon at the helm, any other generic esper Critter could do as well (although maybe not get as big). Is there anything in there that makes Daakon bigger or plays to his abilities? As far as I can tell there is nothing. I am not sure what your design is, if you are looking for commentary on how the deck runs - I would give it an A-.
The problem I have with it, is that it's a deck of good solid cards and little else.

Now if you are looking on suggestions on how to make it more of a Daakon "more Daakony", then I might suggest additional ways to put lands into play in WUB - Solemn Simalcrum, Myraid Landscape, Wayfarer's Bauble, Burnished Hart, Terrain Generator etc. Then make use of the Larger Daakon to win the game via something like Rite of Consumption, or draw massive cards with the new Ob Nix PW.

Otherwise, maybe chose a different general and go that route Sen Triplets and Sharuum are two powerful choices that you can build around with the "staple" cards you are using.

Again if you are looking for commentary on a "more competitive" deck, the deck you have built is extremely solid, it is just very generic.

Hey thankyou for your quick reply Beralt and my appologies for the late response to your advice. after taking in what you said i decided i would not reproach the forum without results

you were absolutely correct and in a way i had always known it but refused to accept it. the deck was very esper cookie cutter build. i had the same problem with my original EDH deck just playing a deck full of coloured staples. was only a matter of time until i would have the same problem with this one. Thankyou for bringing it to my attention.

So i went away and made some changes (keeping Dakkon as the general because i love him :P) and tried to build more to his strength and give the deck a theme. I have decided to take it down the lifegain path, including more land ramp (which honestly i could still use more). but the updated decklist



the average cmc is 3.7 so it hasnt gone up, rather stayed about the same (which is good i suppose :P)

Lifegain:
as you could probably see more creatures have been added with lifelink and cards such as Archangel of Thune, Cradle of Vitality and Drogskol Reaver to take advantage of the life gain which can not only make me harder to kill but buff my dakkon or another creature if needed (Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon or Avacyn, Angel of Hope being prime targets). The lifegain build also had some existing synergy with my old deck build such as True Conviction,Daxos of Meletis, Necropotence and Ajani, Caller of the Pride (obviously the ult).

Wincons:
I have added in more win-cons too because the old setup of Dakkon + Double strike + 11 lands was a long slow process and if ruined set me back big time. So i added in these for assistance

• Necropolis Regent (for non lifegain/land/double strike creature buff)
  
• Hatred (to go with tainted strike making the potention for a leathal dakkon or any old creature also had good synergy with the lifegain theme)
  
• Felidar Sovereign (no explaination required, not all wins come from swinging :P)
  
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope (not so much a win but it is a hell of a threat, my last game was won by her swinging with a jitte after dakkon got tucked)

Land Ramp
I added more in those as i stated it may not be enough, tho i suppose time will tell. my last game with the deck i was far ahead of everyone else in terms of mana (including a sharuum deck which ramps hardcore) so the ramp may be sufficient, but again at this stage, i dunno (would love opinions on this particular topic).

• Crucible of Worlds (obvious choice yet again, recur my fetches or any discarded lands. Also reason i added the Expanse)
  
• Druidic Satchel (was in the deck, then taken out and now back again, had much fun with this and sensei's, hence my ramp last play test :P, also has the lifegain synergy too)
  
• Solemn Simulacrum (obvious again, should have been running from the start, foolish me :S)
  
• Expedition Map (only reason im running this over the bauble is that im afraid of running out of basics and any land is always a good choice)
  
• Thawing Glaciers (Again a no brainer considering im running deserted temple. another reason i added more basics)

these land ramp additions made me up the basic land count so i dont run out just as i gain some momentum.

my first playtest with this new build went incredibly well (luck probably :P) where i was dominating the game on the major offensive and gaining heaps of life. unfortunately dakkon got tucked so i could not end the game before my field got wiped, however despite losing everything i was still able to push back the onslaught of 4 players trying to eliminate me (even killing one in the meantime) before i pulled avacyn with a jitte and then bribed out a Craterhoof Behemoth and Rite of Replication kicked to swing the other 3 for the win. Druidic Satchel i think was the real standout with Exquisite Blood, Drogskol Reaver and Rhystic Study as close behind in terms of how helpful they were.

Im looking at possibly replacing Ashling, the Extinguisher and Medomai the Ageless if i can find something better and more appropriate but both these card have served me very well in this deck thus far. i know the deck still runs a whole bunch of staples but i tried my best to remove the ones i felt unnecessary but if there are others you think replaceable id love to hear your opinion.

Thankyou again for all your help, it makes it easier to improve your deck by hearing what others think, so please continue the critiquing

EDIT:
-1 Terramorphic Expanse
+1 Myriad Landscape

Also beralt, in response to your whispersilk cloak vs Dauthi Embrace, personally i prefer Embrace just because i can get multiple creatures with it rather than just the one, plus its also just got a bit more flavor with dakkon (the shadow slayer :P) i know probably a silly justification but just my own weird reasoning