Let me introduce you to the most powerful commander in EDH:
Are you smirking? Dubious? Laughing? Exactly. Phelddagrif's greatest strength is his weakness - popularly known as a joke commander, a leader of decks with no win conditions, a purple hippo that's as powerful as it is well-illustrated. In a format that's all about beating down the player in the lead, a commander that never looks threatening can be far more useful than one that paints a massive target on your head before it ever hits the board. But let's take a slightly deeper look at him.
He's a 4/4 for 4. Not bad stats for an older card. On top of that, he's got the ability to fly or trample for just 1 mana. 2 life? Who cares if you're winning via commander damage. Trample is less useful, but you'll only need to use it offenseively if they're blocking with weak flyers - in which case, giving them a small ground creature isn't usually much of a penalty. Finally, the ability to bounce. Pretty powerful, for just 1 mana. Considering he's rarely the target anyway, Phelddagrif should most likely never die, making him nearly the equal of derevi in terms of reliability - and unlike derevi, he's immune to disabling auras or the like.
So that's all well and good, but he's still just a dumb beater. Or is he? In 1v1, yes. But in multiplayer his abilities have nigh-infinite utility. Being able to give tokens or life to selected opponents can be an effective way to keep players in the game if they're more useful alive than dead, and you can potentially use them for all manner of political favors - from motivating attacks, removal, counters, or any other action you want your opponents to do - you've got a motivator to push your opponents to do what you want, at a cost that's practically free. On top of that, his bounce ability is even more powerful - in 1v1, trading removal for phelddagrif bouncing and getting a card to replace the removal spell isn't a terrible deal, but in multiplayer you can assume it'll be someone ELSE drawing the card, leaving you short a card, an opponent up a card, and phelddagrif merely back in its owner's hand instead of dead. Same goes for any attacks with anything phelddagrif can block. And for any kind of hate directed towards you that Phelddagrif can't stop, you can always just threaten to funnel all your resources into someone who's more sympathetic to your cause. Bank of Braavos style, son.
So that's the one-hippo-army that is Phelddagrif. Seemingly weak, yet secretly powerful. So what sort of deck best supports this commander?
A lot of players make the mistaken assumption that Phelddagrif's deck should be a reflection of his generosity, and pack it with cards that give his enemies additional resources like howling mine, heartbeat of spring, and rites of flourishing. Phelddagrif HATES this. Trust me, he whispers it to me all the time (but only if it's very, very quiet and all the murder voices shut up for a second. Man those guys are loud, amiright?)
First of all, symmetrical effects don't equal politics. If everyone is drawing the same number of extra cards, no one is motivated to help you out. You're not really benefiting them, unless they can make better use of the resources than the other players. And those resources are not contingent upon your good graces. If someone is taking those free resources you're giving them, and using them to beat the crap out of you, you have no ability to turn them off. Phelddagrif lets you direct resources to those you deem worthy, not throwing them around all willy-nilly.
Second of all, these effects can easily get out of hand, and you have no ability to turn them off. My favorite example being collective voyage, which frequently has the text "the player on your left wins the game". But even gradual effects like font of mythos can quickly escalate, and some decks can take better advantage of them than others - for example, azusa drawing 3 cards every turn can ramp to absurd levels very quickly, while most other decks will often be unable to play their extra lands and simply discard them. This often results in the Phelddagrif player becoming a kingmaker rather than the king, as Phelddagrif rightly deserves.
And finally - Phelddagrif needs no support at politics. If your opponents aren't willing to play ball for hippos, life, or cards, they probably aren't willing to play ball for a symmetrical effect that's benefiting their other enemies just as much as themselves. If someone is too stubborn to see reason for any of phelddagrif's gifts - or even the threat of phelddagrif's gifts to their enemies - there's only one other thing that might persuade them - killing everything the hold dear. (In the game, I mean. Just the stuff in the game.)
So that brings us to what Phelddagrif ought to be - control. (Of course, you could use phelddagrif's friendly countenance to hide a sinister combo deck, but that's a trick that won't last more than once. Once everyone knows what's up, you may as well play a more popularly-powerful commander, rather than attempt to mask your intentions.) Control is the natural partner to Phelddagrif's abilities - Phelddagrif presents a carrot to your opponents, so your deck is the metaphorical stick. Luckily, white and blue provide plenty of powerful control pieces.
What sorts of control pieces are best for phelddagrif? Let's rule out any stax pieces. As powerful as stax is, much like combo it undermines your ability to play politics once people know what's up. And unlike combo, you're somewhat forced, with most stax pieces, to play them early if you hope to use them effectively - sphere of resistance does a lot less on turn 10 than turn 2, for example.
First of all, you need the ability to punish those who move against you, and you need to be able to lay down retribution swiftly. Your ability to punish is somewhat neutered if it's only at sorcery speed - a single alpha strike could easily kill you before you can respond effectively. Of course, ideally the board shouldn't get so built up that such a thing is possible, but it can be useful to let opponents build up enough to become a major threat, and thus force all your opponents to expend many resources on both sides, letting you benefit. But you need to be able to respond, should something unexpected happen. So the first order of business is instant-speed answers for creatures, artifacts, and enchantments, as well as spells in the form of counterspells. Certain fogs (by which I obviously mean constant mists) can also be a very powerful tool to save yourself if the worst should happen.
You will also sometimes need to get the board all squeaky clean when things are getting a little out of hand, or when you're ready to turn the corner and go for the win, and you want to do so with minimum resource expenditure. The natural solution is cheap, effective board wipes. Luckily, with Phelddagrif's built-in bounce, he's protected quite handily from your own wipes. What mix of creature-only, and multi-permanent-type wipes you include will depend on your specific build.
To supplement the control elements of the build, you will also need some resource generation for yourself, in the form of draw and ramp. This should be somewhat controlled, so that you don't present too much of a threat by drawing and ramping excessively, but it is nevertheless necessary to keep up with the state of the game and to avoid running out of resources yourself.
Draw options are plentiful, but which you prefer depends on your personal playstyle. I usually prefer to conserve cards as much as possible, making a big single-shot draw not very useful, so I tend to prefer draw that lets me top off my hand occasionally when I start to get a little low. I also prefer to avoid sorcery-speed draw that costs a lot of mana, since I like to keep as many answers available as possible on enemy turns. If you play differently, you may change the balance of draw inside your deck. Don't be afraid to replace draw with tutors for your better draw options, especially if those tutors can double to find an answer in a pinch.
Ramp is of somewhat less importance here than most decks, firstly because it undermines the prime directive (do not be the threat!) and secondly because most of the spells are chosen for mana effeciency. Nevertheless, some of the endgame win conditions can be pretty mana intensive, keeping up more mana to answer more potential threats can be necessary if things have gotten a little crazy, and it's also useful to be able to take better advantage of draw by putting lands into play from your hand. The latter is especially powerful because it means the primary threat you present to the table - the cards in your hand - can be as concentrated as possible. Holding a 20-card hand that's 70% lands is likely to draw a lot more hate than it's worth to you. Much better to hold a 6 card hand that's nothing but powerful spells.
finally, there is an optional category: wincons. Yes, optional. Phelddagrif is a reasonable win condition on his own, especially since many lands make it easy to speed up his clock by a turn or even two. However, you may find that you prefer to be able to win from a less-controlled position, which is easier to do with wincons that let you win while your opponents have more resources than with phelddagrif alone.
Now that you've got a savage deck to back up your savage commander, how should do you play this broken piece of nonsense?
There are two phases to playing the phelddagrif game. Most of the game takes place in the first phase, however knowing when to "turn the corner" into the second phase is very important.
The first phase of the plan is playing the political game. Your goals here are as follows.
1) Do not become the threat
2) Stop anything that threatens to get out of hand if necessary
3) Build up your resources
4) Reduce the resources of the rest of the table
1) Is pretty straightforward. Whenever you're considering playing a spell, always consider - will this make me the biggest threat at the table? Will it concern the other players? For example, Forbid is a very powerful card, however if you have life from the loam and a cycling land, your opponents are likely to take notice of the fact that you're able to counter multiple spells every turn. Even if it's not the biggest threat at the table YET, it may become the biggest threat after a board wipe. Avoid putting yourself in this position. In this circumstance for example, it may be best to counter without buyback, to avoid the appearance of a threat. Or, ideally, use a different counterspell if the spell absolutely must be countered.
Remember you can use phelddagrif to give enemies resources, and potentially increase their threat level, however do keep in mind that if you're throwing resources to a player, his opponents may consider you to be a threat for that reason. So strive for moderation, and read the table to determine if it's worth the risk of annoying the other players.
It's also important, silly as it may sound, to avoid "looking like the control player" here. Use control pieces only when absolutely necessary. Don't be that guy who's always going "I'll allow it" when someone casts a spell. Don't get angry whenever someone makes a small move against you - if it's just a matter of a few life, just take it. It's important that players don't see you as an invincible control deck. If you're still sitting a crisp 40 life while the rest of the table is bloodied, don't expect that the table won't take notice. Take some hits, but respond in kind - a small slight means a small retribution - one or two hippos to their enemies, or something along those lines. Although it's important that players know that you could hurt them with your removal, don't flash it around too much. Your goal here is to be as invisible as possible, and use removal only as a last resort. You want your opponents to WANT the game to become you vs them in the final 1v1. Tip your hand as little as possible until that's a reality.
2) Of course, sometimes things will threaten to become a problem, and you'll have to step in to take control. It's important to do this only when ABSOLUTELY necessary. Remember, your other opponents are affected too, and they're just as motivated to stop whatever's happening as you are. If one opponent plays a threat, and another one answers it, that's a pure win for you. So if you think you can afford to let something happen, let it happen, and see if your other opponents will do something about it for you. And try to let it happen as long as possible. Cards like constant mists and kor haven can be very powerful in this regard, as they let you feel safe and secure when a major threat hits the field, while your opponents scramble for answers. This is also another reason why instant-speed removal is so superior to sorcery speed. It's also why removal is better than counterspells - counterspells are essentially a pre-emptive response to a threat. The preferable option is to be able to wait as late as possible, which removal provides. Of course, counterspells are still necessary for their versatility though, and being the only way respond to certain kinds of threats.
Sometimes, you will simply have to respond. Someone's comboing out, and only you have the answer. Or worse, a threat is only significant to you - for instance, something that does damage on etb, and you're the only one at just a few life. In these cases, do what needs to be done. And don't get smug. Remember, you must show weakness to hide your strength.
3) Building up resources is tricky, because you still have to keep a low profile. The important thing here is to monitor the rest of the table. If another player is ramping insanely, or drawing a ton of cards, you should be fine as long as you stay safely behind them. You don't want to get too far behind the table, since your ability to stop shenanigans is often limited to the resources you have at hand. More enemy resources require more of yours to keep pace. Again, this is part of why it's important not to get smug. A control player with a full grip and 10 untapped lands is less likely to draw ire if he's not constantly "allowing" things to happen. Just sit back, watch the madness, and only step in when you have to. Then that full grip will seem a lot less problematic, and it'll be better for you too.
4) The table losing steam tends to happen naturally over time. People get eliminated, enemy answers eliminate enemy threats. Of course, people will draw cards and recoup their resources. For this reason, your goal should always be to ensure that enemy resources are fighting each other. One person might be drawing a lot of cards, but they're unlikely to be able to fight against the entire table, especially with phelddagrif's support. Ideally you won't have to step in to remove resource generation engines, but it is sometimes necessary. Often times the crucial factor is what the rest of the table looks like. If the resource-generating player is already ahead, probably best to help the table balance out, or even eliminate them. But if they're behind, you can probably count on the rest of the table to deal with it.
Your ultimate goal here is to reduce the table to as few resources as possible before you strike. Ideally this means just one opponent, and ideally ideally the least-threatening deck at the table. Remember, once you start playing 1v1 your politics are useless, so you'd better be able to take them on in a 1v1 game. If you don't think you can, then best to keep the other players in the game if possible, so they can help wear each other down.
Once the resources of the table are low enough, and yours are high enough, it's time to strike. You'll want to make sure you've got answers for a multitude of threats, because there's no help to be had past this point. You are finally the threat.
In phase 2, your goal is simple. Kill whoever is left over. This means you may as well expend the rest of your control resources however seems most prudent. Of course you should still be smart - don't throw out all your counters on whatever they cast first. Counters ARE especially useful here, because no longer are you motivated to wait to act. Your only reason to conserve resources - beyond playing well - is to reduce your perceived threat in future games. At this point, this is straightforward multiplayer magic at it's most simple, so there's not much to say. You'll want to eliminate players as quickly as possible, especially if there are still multiple left, since each turn the table's resources will increase relative to yours, do I don't recommend turning the corner if multiple opponents are at significant life and you have no way to accelerate a phelddagrif kill. You can sometimes half-turn the corner by antagonizing your opponents one at a time, but this can be tricky since any resources you're using you kill the first player will obviously be used against the second once the first is dead, so he's motivated to remove them. Good luck, and may the best hippo win.
So with all that, why would you want to play Phelddagrif?
Phelddagrif is a commander I love for a simple reason: he is the most skill-intensive commander in the format. Why do I say that? Other decks reward you for simply having a better, more powerful deck than your opponents. You bring a Zur deck to a table of precons? Congrats, you win on the virtue of your card quality. Political Phelddagrif almost cannot win if played badly - become the threat of the table, and you don't have much to prevent them from turning you into chowder, even if their decks are precon-level bad. You cannot simply overpower them. You have to play carefully, read the table, use good threat assessment, and even act appropriately in order to secure a win. But if you do this, you can beat very powerful enemy decks, and do so reliably.
For that reason, I think it's a deck that perfectly encapsulates what I find fascinating about EDH - multiplayer games have so many nuances absent from 1v1 magic. Many decks approach commander as though it was just a bigger 1v1 format, scaling their threats to a bigger table but taking no advantage of the politics of multiplayer to use the table against itself. As long as you approach commander in this way, you have no way to beat the odds except by making your deck more powerful, and showing off your pocketbook instead of your skill.
Cross over to the other side. Pick up a Phelddagrif.
And finally, my decklist:
This decklist is still in pretty heavy beta. I've played Phelddagrif many times over my entire commander lifetime, but this incarnation is new and still has lots of experimental cards in it. Those cards that are unproven and are likely to be removed, have been marked by an asterisk. Other cards may of course be removed too, but they mostly fall into the core goal of the deck, while the asterisked cards are more experimental.
Anyway, besides shamelessly bumping this, I've gotten to play this deck a bit more over the past few weeks. Holds up pretty well, has the usual weaknesses of political decks - doesn't work nearly as well in smaller games, because necessarily it will be harder to avoid scrutiny, and also it's difficult to play against stax and combo decks that are basically trying to constantly play "I win" cards and nothing else, because there's really no way to "politic" with that sort of thing. Combo is a bit better than stax I guess, since once the combo is disrupted in a permanent way, they're less of an issue.
Anyway, 3 games so far, all pretty long. First one was 4p with 50-75% decks, 2 of which were nekusar, which is pretty annoying for a control deck trying to eke out gradual CA. It went really well, though, kor haven kept the 3rd, rafiq, player away from me and I mostly just let threats resolve and mostly watched the rafiq player fight it out with the nekusars while I sat back and sculpted a control hand. Once Nek 1 was dead I was under a bit more scrutiny, but mostly did nothing threatening while hiding behind kor haven. Helped out the other nek player a little for politics and to give him tools to hurt rafiq. When they were both low on life (and rafiq had a lot of phelddy damage on him) I untapped phelddagrif with domineering will as twiddle on phelddagrif, previously trapped by front giant and quite large thanks to citadel siege, which was enough to kill rafiq and give the last nek 1 turn while I held up 3 counterspells and 3 removal spells. So I won.
Game 2 was more annoying, daretti stax with tons of landwipes and a pretty mediocre gitrog deck. I immediately partnered with gitrog to try to kill daretti, mostly surviving off crucially getting intuition into life from the loam to recover from land wipes, since I kept not getting my counterspells. Gitrog started to recover from landwipes just as I finished off daretti, but I had a ton of mana between lftl + sylvan library + burgeoning so I was able to capsize lock him out of the game and won at 4 life (mostly self-inflicted from library)
Game 3 was the daretti guy playing talrand and another guy playing an atrocious derevi deck. Talrand got mana crypt into rhystic study turn 1 (great banlist, A+) and Derevi wasn't doing anything, so I had to hold out for my lftl to get me up to 6 for a akroma's wrath, taking 20 in the process. Luckily no counterspells from talrand at this point, I was watching with telepathy which, incidentally, I think is actually amazing here. Talrand is totally out of gas and we both know he's got a overwhelming intellect, so mostly we're sitting around plinking in damage on talrand while I build up steam. My key card is a constant mists to protect my low life total. I finally kill talrand, buring one of my counters unfortunately to stop his pongify, maybe not worth it tbh. I'm feeling pretty secure even though derevi's board is pretty large, he's played some really bad cards so I feel pretty safe. I'm sitting on a comandeer with unfortunately no other blue cards, but quite a bit of mana. He counters my mists (first counter I've seen from him) but luckily I still have a counter-counter. A few turns later, he has a second counter, and this time I'm one land short of the commandeer, partly because I missed off a fetch, so maybe I need more targets for those. Or just not suck so bad at keeping track. Anyway so my fog is gone, so next turn I try to wipe the board, and it gets countered by the bad mana leak from origins, of all things, and I'm a few mana short. He's got beastmaster ascension and kills me. Bit of a rough one since I felt pretty secure up until the last turn, but I learned a few things:
(1) this deck is way less fun, and less good, in 3 player games. Especially horribly imbalanced 3 player games. It basically becomes 1v1 with someone else sitting around doing mostly nothing until I can kill the stronger player, or die (which didn't happen yet but easily could have).
(2) Don't forget to check how many fetch targets you have left. And maybe add some more.
(3) Don't get too cocky on waiting for value with board wipes.
(4) Telepathy is super super good.
I find that I prefer Athreos, God of Passage for a competitive political option. It's a very interesting "voluntary infinite combo" deck wherein you use zero-cost creatures (memnite, endless one, blood pet, etc.) and build up the death triggers with the help of someone willing to not pay the 3 life.
It's advantage is that you can go a lot farther in playing opponents against eachother; with cards like blood artist you can kill anyone as long as at least one person at the table will let you, while cards like kami of false hope can win you friends with virtually no loss to yourself. It's quite fast as far as combo decks go, which means its also very good at stopping other combo decks which have worn out their welcome in your playgroup since you can usually find a willing partner.
If anyone complains about your own combos, you can just point out the obvious: no one needs to let you combo. I will say, though, that for all of its political-ness it struggles much more in the final 1v1. You always need to choose your last foe carefully.
Excellent write up! Makes me consider playing The Hippo in my own political deck as a tool to sway things to and fro. Love that primer here, lots of great information I can incorporate into my games even if I'm not playing your list... or even your commander
First of all, great analysis. I've long held similar thoughts regarding the intricacies of political decks and how to not play them as group hug, which is another animal entirely. I generally don't run symmetrical effects like Collective Voyage, but I've always been conflicted about Tempt with Discovery. What are your thoughts on it? Does it go against the profiling aspect of #3 (resources)? Do people opt out of the offer and leave you with an inefficient ramp spell? Are lands just simply resources that should not be given out, given that they're more difficult to control than life or creatures? Starting to realize I'm answering my own questions...
Is Illusionist's Gambit too cute to be an inclusion in a similar list? To clarify, you're list is far more tuned than any of my half-baked political deck theories ever will be, but even in a casual setting I've had doubts, although it is one of my pet cards.
As addendum, having previously read several of your posts and never before noticing, I give you pop culture points for your "too many decks on the dance floor".
I find that I prefer Athreos, God of Passage for a competitive political option. It's a very interesting "voluntary infinite combo" deck wherein you use zero-cost creatures (memnite, endless one, blood pet, etc.) and build up the death triggers with the help of someone willing to not pay the 3 life.
It's advantage is that you can go a lot farther in playing opponents against eachother; with cards like blood artist you can kill anyone as long as at least one person at the table will let you, while cards like kami of false hope can win you friends with virtually no loss to yourself. It's quite fast as far as combo decks go, which means its also very good at stopping other combo decks which have worn out their welcome in your playgroup since you can usually find a willing partner.
If anyone complains about your own combos, you can just point out the obvious: no one needs to let you combo. I will say, though, that for all of its political-ness it struggles much more in the final 1v1. You always need to choose your last foe carefully.
I hadn't considered athreos that way, that's actually a pretty sweet idea. I might have to try that sometime. right now I'm working on CN2 Grenzo and the partner commanders.
Excellent write up! Makes me consider playing The Hippo in my own political deck as a tool to sway things to and fro. Love that primer here, lots of great information I can incorporate into my games even if I'm not playing your list... or even your commander
First of all, great analysis. I've long held similar thoughts regarding the intricacies of political decks and how to not play them as group hug, which is another animal entirely. I generally don't run symmetrical effects like Collective Voyage, but I've always been conflicted about Tempt with Discovery. What are your thoughts on it? Does it go against the profiling aspect of #3 (resources)? Do people opt out of the offer and leave you with an inefficient ramp spell? Are lands just simply resources that should not be given out, given that they're more difficult to control than life or creatures? Starting to realize I'm answering my own questions...
Is Illusionist's Gambit too cute to be an inclusion in a similar list? To clarify, you're list is far more tuned than any of my half-baked political deck theories ever will be, but even in a casual setting I've had doubts, although it is one of my pet cards.
As addendum, having previously read several of your posts and never before noticing, I give you pop culture points for your "too many decks on the dance floor".
The "tempt" cycle is pretty interesting. I don't think they're "political" in the way I would describe it, since every enemy has the same opportunity and you can't control where it goes, but they're more "tragedy of the commons" type of cards, like temporal extortion. It's very prisoner's dilemma - the best result for the rest of the table as a whole is (generally) to not take the offer, however the best result for a specific individual is to be the only one taking the offer. If your table is group-minded I think they're all pretty overpriced and bad, but if they're less trusting of each other you can benefit hugely. Tempt with discovery in particular is a powerful effect so I could see it being decent even if you don't expect to get more than 1 land. And if you play it in a low-threat deck like this one, maybe people will let you have advantage because they just don't care. Might be worth testing. That said it could also backfire horribly if you put someone into a gaea's cradle for 20 mana or something insane like that. I guess at least you can always go grab strip mine, but running more than 1 strip mine effect in 3 colors gets dicey.
I don't generally consider illusionist's gambit to be political because it's a forced attack - there's no bargaining involved, no quid pro quo. It's a card that benefits from being in a multiplayer format, but isn't political. I will also mention here that there are 2 main ways, imo, to use removal and tricks politically - as a silent threat (if you attack me, people know it'll hurt in some unspecified way) or as a visible threat ("I've got an STP and I'm not afraid to use it!"). illusionist's gambit is not a good card for the former because it doesn't necessarily hurt very badly, and it really doesn't work at all in the latter case. So I think the political applications are pretty small. That said, definitely if your games tend to be won via craterhoof behemoth it could be a powerful card to win the game, just not really in what I'd call a political fashion.
Wow, right next to each other too. That's embarrassing. fixing it now.
I try to include Tunnel Ignus if I think about including Collective Voyage. Makes it asymmetrical, while enabling teammates in formats like Two Headed Giant. But it's also bitten me as often as it's crushed others (CV, I mean).
I run Tempt with Discovery in my Omnath deck, because 4 mana in a ramp deck like that is more like 2-3 mana in other decks, so if I only get one land (Blighted Woodland or Ghost Quarter or the like) it doesn't feel like a waste. And even though everybody should know better than to take the offer, there is usually somebody hurting for their third color or who missed a land drop or two who takes it because they think they'll have a chance to come from behind.
But in a political deck? Probably not. I'd want to be able to go for Strip Mine and Wasteland in case they go for Cabal Coffers or Serra's Sanctum or some utility land that'll be a problem. And when I do that they're just going to remember I was an ********. And if they have CoW you didn't accomplish anything but Entomb for them.
I don't think Gambit is too cute. It's the kind of thing that would work well in my meta because it would often force them to attack someone they didn't want to attack, which leads to attrition and/or retribution. My friends would forget that I forced this situation and go after the person that declared the attackers. Head Games works the same way when you give somebody answers to somebody else's threats.
If I needed more than one fog in my Tasigur political deck (based on DirkGently's), Gambit might find a spot.
I don't have a dedicated political deck, but I do always attempt to play politics during all my games. Your primer was useful in fleshing out ideas on how to do so more effectively. Instead of playing heavy control decks, I tend to favor cards that create fun multiplayer moments like Illussionist's Gambit, Mirrorweave, and Deflecting Palm. I like the whole "rattlesnake" strategy where opponents won't know what to expect from you and your hand of cards...
I try to include Tunnel Ignus if I think about including Collective Voyage. Makes it asymmetrical, while enabling teammates in formats like Two Headed Giant. But it's also bitten me as often as it's crushed others (CV, I mean).
I run Tempt with Discovery in my Omnath deck, because 4 mana in a ramp deck like that is more like 2-3 mana in other decks, so if I only get one land (Blighted Woodland or Ghost Quarter or the like) it doesn't feel like a waste. And even though everybody should know better than to take the offer, there is usually somebody hurting for their third color or who missed a land drop or two who takes it because they think they'll have a chance to come from behind.
But in a political deck? Probably not. I'd want to be able to go for Strip Mine and Wasteland in case they go for Cabal Coffers or Serra's Sanctum or some utility land that'll be a problem. And when I do that they're just going to remember I was an ********. And if they have CoW you didn't accomplish anything but Entomb for them.
I don't think Gambit is too cute. It's the kind of thing that would work well in my meta because it would often force them to attack someone they didn't want to attack, which leads to attrition and/or retribution. My friends would forget that I forced this situation and go after the person that declared the attackers. Head Games works the same way when you give somebody answers to somebody else's threats.
If I needed more than one fog in my Tasigur political deck (based on DirkGently's), Gambit might find a spot.
Man, Tasigur really bums me out. I love the idea behind the card and the deck, but because he's been coopted by the competitive EDH crowd (and even banned in french) he gets too many sideways glances to be as fun as phelddagrif. I was hoping people would leave him alone since he lets opponents decide, but I guess any time you've got "{mana cost}: do something" on a commander some jagoff is going to use it as a finisher for some boring infinite mana combo. Erg. And I'm sure him being viable in other formats doesn't help either. Maybe one day in the distant future he'll be able to politic like I want him to. Already Leovold is replacing him as the competitive commander for BUG, so that's a good sign. Glad people are out there playing Tasigur the fun way.
Not sold on illusionist's gambit, but I confess I haven't tried it. Seems meta-dependent to me.
I don't have a dedicated political deck, but I do always attempt to play politics during all my games. Your primer was useful in fleshing out ideas on how to do so more effectively. Instead of playing heavy control decks, I tend to favor cards that create fun multiplayer moments like Illussionist's Gambit, Mirrorweave, and Deflecting Palm. I like the whole "rattlesnake" strategy where opponents won't know what to expect from you and your hand of cards...
I've got a great Judo deck built for K&T now
I think there are lots of ways to play politics even without a dedicated build. Phelddagrif is fairly unique in being a "carrot" that doesn't require you to invest any cards, which is pretty huge, but there are innumerable ways to provide a carrot or a whip with normal cards. Anything that benefits a player can be a carrot, and anything that hurts them can be a whip. So it can fun to try to play politically even when your deck isn't set up for it necessarily. I still remember one of the best games I've ever had, with my zirilan deck, the whole table was sick of losing (to one of my other decks) and was dedicated to killing me ASAP. After some brutal early hits, when it felt like I was almost out of the game, each turn I basically asked each player what they'd want to not kill me, and doing whatever they wanted. Ultimately, with some clever negotiation, I managed to keep myself alive to where, with some clever tricks, I could turn around an entire table that was hellbent to kill me ASAP and won the game regardless. Probably still my most epic EDH victory.
Mirrorweave is one of my all-time favorite cards. Can't say the same about K&T, but to each his own. At least they're better than Ludevic.
Man, Tasigur really bums me out. I love the idea behind the card and the deck, but because he's been coopted by the competitive EDH crowd (and even banned in french) he gets too many sideways glances to be as fun as phelddagrif. I was hoping people would leave him alone since he lets opponents decide, but I guess any time you've got "{mana cost}: do something" on a commander some jagoff is going to use it as a finisher for some boring infinite mana combo. Erg. And I'm sure him being viable in other formats doesn't help either. Maybe one day in the distant future he'll be able to politic like I want him to. Already Leovold is replacing him as the competitive commander for BUG, so that's a good sign. Glad people are out there playing Tasigur the fun way.
Yeah, I've seen the reanimation, DEN+Paly, put-your-deck-in-your-hand stuff. Not my style. Heck, I took Capsize out after a while because I would have 30+ mana and Seedborn so I was just bouncing everything and the endgame turned into an inexorable but menial labor. I like my grinds to be retain a feeling of struggle.
Fortunately the folks in my meta or sheltered from the "competitive" stuff mostly so they don't have that impression of Tasigur. I don't often play it with them just because I know it'll always be a long game.
Yeah, I've seen the reanimation, DEN+Paly, put-your-deck-in-your-hand stuff. Not my style. Heck, I took Capsize out after a while because I would have 30+ mana and Seedborn so I was just bouncing everything and the endgame turned into an inexorable but menial labor. I like my grinds to be retain a feeling of struggle.
Fortunately the folks in my meta or sheltered from the "competitive" stuff mostly so they don't have that impression of Tasigur. I don't often play it with them just because I know it'll always be a long game.
Maybe I should stick seedborn in this deck. It's definitely a powerful control tool, but it also paints a big target. I guess it's another one of those cards that's kind of meta-dependent on how much they freak out about seedborn.
I'll probably end up taking out pulse of the tangle, spitting image, maybe diviner spirit...deck cmc feels a little bit high. Needs more playtests, though, before I decide which of the jankier cards needs to get cut. Capsize has been the wincon on occasion and it feels sort of gross. I might take it out for wipe away...wipe away is such a flexible way to stop so many combos and shenanigans.
Yeah, I've seen the reanimation, DEN+Paly, put-your-deck-in-your-hand stuff. Not my style. Heck, I took Capsize out after a while because I would have 30+ mana and Seedborn so I was just bouncing everything and the endgame turned into an inexorable but menial labor. I like my grinds to be retain a feeling of struggle.
Fortunately the folks in my meta or sheltered from the "competitive" stuff mostly so they don't have that impression of Tasigur. I don't often play it with them just because I know it'll always be a long game.
Maybe I should stick seedborn in this deck. It's definitely a powerful control tool, but it also paints a big target. I guess it's another one of those cards that's kind of meta-dependent on how much they freak out about seedborn.
I'll probably end up taking out pulse of the tangle, spitting image, maybe diviner spirit...deck cmc feels a little bit high. Needs more playtests, though, before I decide which of the jankier cards needs to get cut. Capsize has been the wincon on occasion and it feels sort of gross. I might take it out for wipe away...wipe away is such a flexible way to stop so many combos and shenanigans.
Yeah, mine doesn't freak out about Seedborn. I hold on to it until it's time to start activating Tasigur multiple times. Haven't been table to try Awakening yet to see how well that works/doesn't. In my meta, except for maybe 1 guy, I think it's just going to give everybody blockers. Might create a power vacuum where I get attacked more, but it might just give me more uses for Domineering Will and Illusionist's Gambit. I suspect it'll work in my meta (can always replace it with Turnabout).
I think I'm going to institute a rule that I rotate 1-2 wincon card slots whenever the deck wins just to keep certain things from re-appearing very often. Stuff like Rude Awakening and Rise from the Tides I've considered but they're straightforward. I've thought about splitting the wincon up into two cards, like Realmwright along with Primal Below or Beacon of Creation.
Are you smirking? Dubious? Laughing? Exactly. Phelddagrif's greatest strength is his weakness - popularly known as a joke commander, a leader of decks with no win conditions, a purple hippo that's as powerful as it is well-illustrated. In a format that's all about beating down the player in the lead, a commander that never looks threatening can be far more useful than one that paints a massive target on your head before it ever hits the board. But let's take a slightly deeper look at him.
So that's all well and good, but he's still just a dumb beater. Or is he? In 1v1, yes. But in multiplayer his abilities have nigh-infinite utility. Being able to give tokens or life to selected opponents can be an effective way to keep players in the game if they're more useful alive than dead, and you can potentially use them for all manner of political favors - from motivating attacks, removal, counters, or any other action you want your opponents to do - you've got a motivator to push your opponents to do what you want, at a cost that's practically free. On top of that, his bounce ability is even more powerful - in 1v1, trading removal for phelddagrif bouncing and getting a card to replace the removal spell isn't a terrible deal, but in multiplayer you can assume it'll be someone ELSE drawing the card, leaving you short a card, an opponent up a card, and phelddagrif merely back in its owner's hand instead of dead. Same goes for any attacks with anything phelddagrif can block. And for any kind of hate directed towards you that Phelddagrif can't stop, you can always just threaten to funnel all your resources into someone who's more sympathetic to your cause. Bank of Braavos style, son.
So that's the one-hippo-army that is Phelddagrif. Seemingly weak, yet secretly powerful. So what sort of deck best supports this commander?
First of all, symmetrical effects don't equal politics. If everyone is drawing the same number of extra cards, no one is motivated to help you out. You're not really benefiting them, unless they can make better use of the resources than the other players. And those resources are not contingent upon your good graces. If someone is taking those free resources you're giving them, and using them to beat the crap out of you, you have no ability to turn them off. Phelddagrif lets you direct resources to those you deem worthy, not throwing them around all willy-nilly.
Second of all, these effects can easily get out of hand, and you have no ability to turn them off. My favorite example being collective voyage, which frequently has the text "the player on your left wins the game". But even gradual effects like font of mythos can quickly escalate, and some decks can take better advantage of them than others - for example, azusa drawing 3 cards every turn can ramp to absurd levels very quickly, while most other decks will often be unable to play their extra lands and simply discard them. This often results in the Phelddagrif player becoming a kingmaker rather than the king, as Phelddagrif rightly deserves.
And finally - Phelddagrif needs no support at politics. If your opponents aren't willing to play ball for hippos, life, or cards, they probably aren't willing to play ball for a symmetrical effect that's benefiting their other enemies just as much as themselves. If someone is too stubborn to see reason for any of phelddagrif's gifts - or even the threat of phelddagrif's gifts to their enemies - there's only one other thing that might persuade them - killing everything the hold dear. (In the game, I mean. Just the stuff in the game.)
So that brings us to what Phelddagrif ought to be - control. (Of course, you could use phelddagrif's friendly countenance to hide a sinister combo deck, but that's a trick that won't last more than once. Once everyone knows what's up, you may as well play a more popularly-powerful commander, rather than attempt to mask your intentions.) Control is the natural partner to Phelddagrif's abilities - Phelddagrif presents a carrot to your opponents, so your deck is the metaphorical stick. Luckily, white and blue provide plenty of powerful control pieces.
What sorts of control pieces are best for phelddagrif? Let's rule out any stax pieces. As powerful as stax is, much like combo it undermines your ability to play politics once people know what's up. And unlike combo, you're somewhat forced, with most stax pieces, to play them early if you hope to use them effectively - sphere of resistance does a lot less on turn 10 than turn 2, for example.
First of all, you need the ability to punish those who move against you, and you need to be able to lay down retribution swiftly. Your ability to punish is somewhat neutered if it's only at sorcery speed - a single alpha strike could easily kill you before you can respond effectively. Of course, ideally the board shouldn't get so built up that such a thing is possible, but it can be useful to let opponents build up enough to become a major threat, and thus force all your opponents to expend many resources on both sides, letting you benefit. But you need to be able to respond, should something unexpected happen. So the first order of business is instant-speed answers for creatures, artifacts, and enchantments, as well as spells in the form of counterspells. Certain fogs (by which I obviously mean constant mists) can also be a very powerful tool to save yourself if the worst should happen.
You will also sometimes need to get the board all squeaky clean when things are getting a little out of hand, or when you're ready to turn the corner and go for the win, and you want to do so with minimum resource expenditure. The natural solution is cheap, effective board wipes. Luckily, with Phelddagrif's built-in bounce, he's protected quite handily from your own wipes. What mix of creature-only, and multi-permanent-type wipes you include will depend on your specific build.
To supplement the control elements of the build, you will also need some resource generation for yourself, in the form of draw and ramp. This should be somewhat controlled, so that you don't present too much of a threat by drawing and ramping excessively, but it is nevertheless necessary to keep up with the state of the game and to avoid running out of resources yourself.
Draw options are plentiful, but which you prefer depends on your personal playstyle. I usually prefer to conserve cards as much as possible, making a big single-shot draw not very useful, so I tend to prefer draw that lets me top off my hand occasionally when I start to get a little low. I also prefer to avoid sorcery-speed draw that costs a lot of mana, since I like to keep as many answers available as possible on enemy turns. If you play differently, you may change the balance of draw inside your deck. Don't be afraid to replace draw with tutors for your better draw options, especially if those tutors can double to find an answer in a pinch.
Ramp is of somewhat less importance here than most decks, firstly because it undermines the prime directive (do not be the threat!) and secondly because most of the spells are chosen for mana effeciency. Nevertheless, some of the endgame win conditions can be pretty mana intensive, keeping up more mana to answer more potential threats can be necessary if things have gotten a little crazy, and it's also useful to be able to take better advantage of draw by putting lands into play from your hand. The latter is especially powerful because it means the primary threat you present to the table - the cards in your hand - can be as concentrated as possible. Holding a 20-card hand that's 70% lands is likely to draw a lot more hate than it's worth to you. Much better to hold a 6 card hand that's nothing but powerful spells.
finally, there is an optional category: wincons. Yes, optional. Phelddagrif is a reasonable win condition on his own, especially since many lands make it easy to speed up his clock by a turn or even two. However, you may find that you prefer to be able to win from a less-controlled position, which is easier to do with wincons that let you win while your opponents have more resources than with phelddagrif alone.
Now that you've got a savage deck to back up your savage commander, how should do you play this broken piece of nonsense?
The first phase of the plan is playing the political game. Your goals here are as follows.
1) Do not become the threat
2) Stop anything that threatens to get out of hand if necessary
3) Build up your resources
4) Reduce the resources of the rest of the table
1) Is pretty straightforward. Whenever you're considering playing a spell, always consider - will this make me the biggest threat at the table? Will it concern the other players? For example, Forbid is a very powerful card, however if you have life from the loam and a cycling land, your opponents are likely to take notice of the fact that you're able to counter multiple spells every turn. Even if it's not the biggest threat at the table YET, it may become the biggest threat after a board wipe. Avoid putting yourself in this position. In this circumstance for example, it may be best to counter without buyback, to avoid the appearance of a threat. Or, ideally, use a different counterspell if the spell absolutely must be countered.
Remember you can use phelddagrif to give enemies resources, and potentially increase their threat level, however do keep in mind that if you're throwing resources to a player, his opponents may consider you to be a threat for that reason. So strive for moderation, and read the table to determine if it's worth the risk of annoying the other players.
It's also important, silly as it may sound, to avoid "looking like the control player" here. Use control pieces only when absolutely necessary. Don't be that guy who's always going "I'll allow it" when someone casts a spell. Don't get angry whenever someone makes a small move against you - if it's just a matter of a few life, just take it. It's important that players don't see you as an invincible control deck. If you're still sitting a crisp 40 life while the rest of the table is bloodied, don't expect that the table won't take notice. Take some hits, but respond in kind - a small slight means a small retribution - one or two hippos to their enemies, or something along those lines. Although it's important that players know that you could hurt them with your removal, don't flash it around too much. Your goal here is to be as invisible as possible, and use removal only as a last resort. You want your opponents to WANT the game to become you vs them in the final 1v1. Tip your hand as little as possible until that's a reality.
2) Of course, sometimes things will threaten to become a problem, and you'll have to step in to take control. It's important to do this only when ABSOLUTELY necessary. Remember, your other opponents are affected too, and they're just as motivated to stop whatever's happening as you are. If one opponent plays a threat, and another one answers it, that's a pure win for you. So if you think you can afford to let something happen, let it happen, and see if your other opponents will do something about it for you. And try to let it happen as long as possible. Cards like constant mists and kor haven can be very powerful in this regard, as they let you feel safe and secure when a major threat hits the field, while your opponents scramble for answers. This is also another reason why instant-speed removal is so superior to sorcery speed. It's also why removal is better than counterspells - counterspells are essentially a pre-emptive response to a threat. The preferable option is to be able to wait as late as possible, which removal provides. Of course, counterspells are still necessary for their versatility though, and being the only way respond to certain kinds of threats.
Sometimes, you will simply have to respond. Someone's comboing out, and only you have the answer. Or worse, a threat is only significant to you - for instance, something that does damage on etb, and you're the only one at just a few life. In these cases, do what needs to be done. And don't get smug. Remember, you must show weakness to hide your strength.
3) Building up resources is tricky, because you still have to keep a low profile. The important thing here is to monitor the rest of the table. If another player is ramping insanely, or drawing a ton of cards, you should be fine as long as you stay safely behind them. You don't want to get too far behind the table, since your ability to stop shenanigans is often limited to the resources you have at hand. More enemy resources require more of yours to keep pace. Again, this is part of why it's important not to get smug. A control player with a full grip and 10 untapped lands is less likely to draw ire if he's not constantly "allowing" things to happen. Just sit back, watch the madness, and only step in when you have to. Then that full grip will seem a lot less problematic, and it'll be better for you too.
4) The table losing steam tends to happen naturally over time. People get eliminated, enemy answers eliminate enemy threats. Of course, people will draw cards and recoup their resources. For this reason, your goal should always be to ensure that enemy resources are fighting each other. One person might be drawing a lot of cards, but they're unlikely to be able to fight against the entire table, especially with phelddagrif's support. Ideally you won't have to step in to remove resource generation engines, but it is sometimes necessary. Often times the crucial factor is what the rest of the table looks like. If the resource-generating player is already ahead, probably best to help the table balance out, or even eliminate them. But if they're behind, you can probably count on the rest of the table to deal with it.
Your ultimate goal here is to reduce the table to as few resources as possible before you strike. Ideally this means just one opponent, and ideally ideally the least-threatening deck at the table. Remember, once you start playing 1v1 your politics are useless, so you'd better be able to take them on in a 1v1 game. If you don't think you can, then best to keep the other players in the game if possible, so they can help wear each other down.
Once the resources of the table are low enough, and yours are high enough, it's time to strike. You'll want to make sure you've got answers for a multitude of threats, because there's no help to be had past this point. You are finally the threat.
In phase 2, your goal is simple. Kill whoever is left over. This means you may as well expend the rest of your control resources however seems most prudent. Of course you should still be smart - don't throw out all your counters on whatever they cast first. Counters ARE especially useful here, because no longer are you motivated to wait to act. Your only reason to conserve resources - beyond playing well - is to reduce your perceived threat in future games. At this point, this is straightforward multiplayer magic at it's most simple, so there's not much to say. You'll want to eliminate players as quickly as possible, especially if there are still multiple left, since each turn the table's resources will increase relative to yours, do I don't recommend turning the corner if multiple opponents are at significant life and you have no way to accelerate a phelddagrif kill. You can sometimes half-turn the corner by antagonizing your opponents one at a time, but this can be tricky since any resources you're using you kill the first player will obviously be used against the second once the first is dead, so he's motivated to remove them. Good luck, and may the best hippo win.
So with all that, why would you want to play Phelddagrif?
For that reason, I think it's a deck that perfectly encapsulates what I find fascinating about EDH - multiplayer games have so many nuances absent from 1v1 magic. Many decks approach commander as though it was just a bigger 1v1 format, scaling their threats to a bigger table but taking no advantage of the politics of multiplayer to use the table against itself. As long as you approach commander in this way, you have no way to beat the odds except by making your deck more powerful, and showing off your pocketbook instead of your skill.
Cross over to the other side. Pick up a Phelddagrif.
And finally, my decklist:
1 Phelddagrif
Answers: Targeted Removal (21)
1 Capsize
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Dark Mutation
1 Krosan Grip
1 Song of the Dryads
1 Reality Shift
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Djinn of Infinite Deceits (*)
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Nature's Claim
1 Pongify
1 Oblation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Comeuppance
1 Citadel Siege (*)
1 Bant Charm
1 Krasis Incubation (*)
1 Beast Within
1 Path to Exile
1 Domineering Will
Answers: Counters (11)
1 Force of Will
1 Voidmage Husher (*)
1 Delay (*)
1 Forbid
1 Arcane Denial
1 Voidslime
1 Counterspell
1 Commandeer (*)
1 Mana Drain
1 Pact of Negation
1 Cryptic Command
1 Day of Judgment
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Fated Retribution
1 Rout
1 Wrath of God
1 Evacuation
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Catastrophe (*)
Draw (7)
1 Life from the Loam
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sylvan Library
1 Skullwinder (*)
1 Pulse of the Grid (*)
1 Diviner Spirit (*)
Ramp (5)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt (*)
1 Burgeoning
1 Exploration
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
Tutors (3)
1 Intuition
1 Merchant's Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
Other Protection (2)
1 Pulse of the Fields (*)
1 Constant Mists
Silliness (1)
1 Telepathy (*)
1 Spitting Image (*)
1 Pulse of the Tangle (*)
Lands (38)
3 ABU dual lands
3 Shocklands
9 Fetchlands
3 cyclelands
3 dual mandlands
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Alchemist's Refuge (*)
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Kor Haven
1 Yavimaya Hollow (*)
1 Krosan Verge
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolaria West
1 Command Tower
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Forest
2 Plains
2 Island
Thank you and good night!
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Anyway, besides shamelessly bumping this, I've gotten to play this deck a bit more over the past few weeks. Holds up pretty well, has the usual weaknesses of political decks - doesn't work nearly as well in smaller games, because necessarily it will be harder to avoid scrutiny, and also it's difficult to play against stax and combo decks that are basically trying to constantly play "I win" cards and nothing else, because there's really no way to "politic" with that sort of thing. Combo is a bit better than stax I guess, since once the combo is disrupted in a permanent way, they're less of an issue.
Anyway, 3 games so far, all pretty long. First one was 4p with 50-75% decks, 2 of which were nekusar, which is pretty annoying for a control deck trying to eke out gradual CA. It went really well, though, kor haven kept the 3rd, rafiq, player away from me and I mostly just let threats resolve and mostly watched the rafiq player fight it out with the nekusars while I sat back and sculpted a control hand. Once Nek 1 was dead I was under a bit more scrutiny, but mostly did nothing threatening while hiding behind kor haven. Helped out the other nek player a little for politics and to give him tools to hurt rafiq. When they were both low on life (and rafiq had a lot of phelddy damage on him) I untapped phelddagrif with domineering will as twiddle on phelddagrif, previously trapped by front giant and quite large thanks to citadel siege, which was enough to kill rafiq and give the last nek 1 turn while I held up 3 counterspells and 3 removal spells. So I won.
Game 2 was more annoying, daretti stax with tons of landwipes and a pretty mediocre gitrog deck. I immediately partnered with gitrog to try to kill daretti, mostly surviving off crucially getting intuition into life from the loam to recover from land wipes, since I kept not getting my counterspells. Gitrog started to recover from landwipes just as I finished off daretti, but I had a ton of mana between lftl + sylvan library + burgeoning so I was able to capsize lock him out of the game and won at 4 life (mostly self-inflicted from library)
Game 3 was the daretti guy playing talrand and another guy playing an atrocious derevi deck. Talrand got mana crypt into rhystic study turn 1 (great banlist, A+) and Derevi wasn't doing anything, so I had to hold out for my lftl to get me up to 6 for a akroma's wrath, taking 20 in the process. Luckily no counterspells from talrand at this point, I was watching with telepathy which, incidentally, I think is actually amazing here. Talrand is totally out of gas and we both know he's got a overwhelming intellect, so mostly we're sitting around plinking in damage on talrand while I build up steam. My key card is a constant mists to protect my low life total. I finally kill talrand, buring one of my counters unfortunately to stop his pongify, maybe not worth it tbh. I'm feeling pretty secure even though derevi's board is pretty large, he's played some really bad cards so I feel pretty safe. I'm sitting on a comandeer with unfortunately no other blue cards, but quite a bit of mana. He counters my mists (first counter I've seen from him) but luckily I still have a counter-counter. A few turns later, he has a second counter, and this time I'm one land short of the commandeer, partly because I missed off a fetch, so maybe I need more targets for those. Or just not suck so bad at keeping track. Anyway so my fog is gone, so next turn I try to wipe the board, and it gets countered by the bad mana leak from origins, of all things, and I'm a few mana short. He's got beastmaster ascension and kills me. Bit of a rough one since I felt pretty secure up until the last turn, but I learned a few things:
(1) this deck is way less fun, and less good, in 3 player games. Especially horribly imbalanced 3 player games. It basically becomes 1v1 with someone else sitting around doing mostly nothing until I can kill the stronger player, or die (which didn't happen yet but easily could have).
(2) Don't forget to check how many fetch targets you have left. And maybe add some more.
(3) Don't get too cocky on waiting for value with board wipes.
(4) Telepathy is super super good.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
It's advantage is that you can go a lot farther in playing opponents against eachother; with cards like blood artist you can kill anyone as long as at least one person at the table will let you, while cards like kami of false hope can win you friends with virtually no loss to yourself. It's quite fast as far as combo decks go, which means its also very good at stopping other combo decks which have worn out their welcome in your playgroup since you can usually find a willing partner.
If anyone complains about your own combos, you can just point out the obvious: no one needs to let you combo. I will say, though, that for all of its political-ness it struggles much more in the final 1v1. You always need to choose your last foe carefully.
- Rabid Wombat
Cheers!
Is Illusionist's Gambit too cute to be an inclusion in a similar list? To clarify, you're list is far more tuned than any of my half-baked political deck theories ever will be, but even in a casual setting I've had doubts, although it is one of my pet cards.
By the way, you have Comeuppance listed twice
As addendum, having previously read several of your posts and never before noticing, I give you pop culture points for your "too many decks on the dance floor".
I don't generally consider illusionist's gambit to be political because it's a forced attack - there's no bargaining involved, no quid pro quo. It's a card that benefits from being in a multiplayer format, but isn't political. I will also mention here that there are 2 main ways, imo, to use removal and tricks politically - as a silent threat (if you attack me, people know it'll hurt in some unspecified way) or as a visible threat ("I've got an STP and I'm not afraid to use it!"). illusionist's gambit is not a good card for the former because it doesn't necessarily hurt very badly, and it really doesn't work at all in the latter case. So I think the political applications are pretty small. That said, definitely if your games tend to be won via craterhoof behemoth it could be a powerful card to win the game, just not really in what I'd call a political fashion.
Wow, right next to each other too. That's embarrassing. fixing it now.
Concords fan?
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I run Tempt with Discovery in my Omnath deck, because 4 mana in a ramp deck like that is more like 2-3 mana in other decks, so if I only get one land (Blighted Woodland or Ghost Quarter or the like) it doesn't feel like a waste. And even though everybody should know better than to take the offer, there is usually somebody hurting for their third color or who missed a land drop or two who takes it because they think they'll have a chance to come from behind.
But in a political deck? Probably not. I'd want to be able to go for Strip Mine and Wasteland in case they go for Cabal Coffers or Serra's Sanctum or some utility land that'll be a problem. And when I do that they're just going to remember I was an ********. And if they have CoW you didn't accomplish anything but Entomb for them.
I don't think Gambit is too cute. It's the kind of thing that would work well in my meta because it would often force them to attack someone they didn't want to attack, which leads to attrition and/or retribution. My friends would forget that I forced this situation and go after the person that declared the attackers. Head Games works the same way when you give somebody answers to somebody else's threats.
If I needed more than one fog in my Tasigur political deck (based on DirkGently's), Gambit might find a spot.
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R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
I've got a great Judo deck built for K&T now
Not sold on illusionist's gambit, but I confess I haven't tried it. Seems meta-dependent to me. I think there are lots of ways to play politics even without a dedicated build. Phelddagrif is fairly unique in being a "carrot" that doesn't require you to invest any cards, which is pretty huge, but there are innumerable ways to provide a carrot or a whip with normal cards. Anything that benefits a player can be a carrot, and anything that hurts them can be a whip. So it can fun to try to play politically even when your deck isn't set up for it necessarily. I still remember one of the best games I've ever had, with my zirilan deck, the whole table was sick of losing (to one of my other decks) and was dedicated to killing me ASAP. After some brutal early hits, when it felt like I was almost out of the game, each turn I basically asked each player what they'd want to not kill me, and doing whatever they wanted. Ultimately, with some clever negotiation, I managed to keep myself alive to where, with some clever tricks, I could turn around an entire table that was hellbent to kill me ASAP and won the game regardless. Probably still my most epic EDH victory.
Mirrorweave is one of my all-time favorite cards. Can't say the same about K&T, but to each his own. At least they're better than Ludevic.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Fortunately the folks in my meta or sheltered from the "competitive" stuff mostly so they don't have that impression of Tasigur. I don't often play it with them just because I know it'll always be a long game.
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R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
I'll probably end up taking out pulse of the tangle, spitting image, maybe diviner spirit...deck cmc feels a little bit high. Needs more playtests, though, before I decide which of the jankier cards needs to get cut. Capsize has been the wincon on occasion and it feels sort of gross. I might take it out for wipe away...wipe away is such a flexible way to stop so many combos and shenanigans.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Wipe Away is good. Not many suspended cards to deal with. I'm testing Insidious Will for flexibility as well.
I think I'm going to institute a rule that I rotate 1-2 wincon card slots whenever the deck wins just to keep certain things from re-appearing very often. Stuff like Rude Awakening and Rise from the Tides I've considered but they're straightforward. I've thought about splitting the wincon up into two cards, like Realmwright along with Primal Below or Beacon of Creation.
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko