So I have really taken to Shalai as a commander due to how open ended she can be, experimenting with a few ways to build her (tokens, 1/1 Counters, lifegain, etc.) and none of them seem to scale well into multiplayer as expected (aggro start, board wiped several times, the usual). I really enjoy cord of calling decks in modern as well as Valuetown and Maverick in legacy, so I thought I would try and make an EDH version of those decks.
Obviously there are some budget exclusions and some pet cards still present, as well as the manabase being mostly a placeholder (utility lands not withstanding). The meta I play in is decidedly 75%, fairly optimized, combos and game winning synergies are tolerated and fairly frequent, but still plenty of creature/combat decks.
The general idea I went with was a valuetown/GW midrange deck with the Spike/Thune combo and a number of tutors in order to keep pace with the more linear decks, while still having the main gameplan to grind people out and maybe hit with some commander damage. Is there anything I glaringly missed or any pet cards that you think I really can't justify? I've been toying around with this deck for a while and keep remaking it/making changes so I thought some outside feedback would be good.
I do think that there are some cards that are not as synergistic as other cards could be for those slots.
To get a deck to be more consistant and competitive then the ability to toolbox for particular cards/creatures is important, and you've already expressed that you like Cord of Calling.
Remove Resplendent Angel - i know it's new and exciting, but you already have a mana sink commander, and your life gain is actually pretty minimal in the deck. Luminarch Ascension - underwelming when it actually come to getting this card to work the way you want it. Settle the Wreckage - Not as good in multiplayer, as giving an opponent extra lands in more of a battlecruiser format does negate the creature loss. Also hard to get value if you're looking to do it to your own creatures for ramp. Just an awkward card I've found with my own play testing. Dromoka's Command - Not as good in multiplayer as you might want. Condemn - too conditional, Path to Exile is better. Sublime Archangel - exalted does not really work that well in this deck. Mistcutter Hydra - lackluster. Lyra Dawnbringer - 5 mana for a beater is not really that great, which only gives Shalai +1/+1. Restoration Angel, Bramble Sovereign - honestly the ETB creatures in this deck are really light in numbers; Greenwarden of Murasa, Jadelight Ranger, Ranger of Eos, Reclamation Sage, Sun Titan, Woodland Bellower.
You've got to be asking yourself for half of those creatures you'll need 8 mana to get value from Bramble Sovereign.
You really need more ETB creature to get consistent value from these creatures.
Look at Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Elvish Rejuvenator as ETB value creatures for mana acceleration, if you want to keep these in. Eternal Witness for the same reason.
I feel like having one infinite combo can mean that you can look for outs in particular locked up game, so Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies, is probably a good bet with a mana sink commander. Vizier of Remedies can be good against decks that look to -1/-1 your creatures.
Simply remove Boreal Druid for Devoted Druid and your deck doesn't need to change much for this.
Right you already have Courser of Kruphix and Vizier of the Menagerie in the deck, so you've already been playing some top deck manipulation. Pretty much my favorite mechanic in all of Magic, so I am biased towards these cards. But for a reason, it's super powerful and a pseudo card draw which is important for Selesnya colors.
So that's why Oracle of Mul Daya and Sensei's Divining Top are important additions. The Azusa, Lost but Seeking can only really be added once you also have these cards in.
Now it is important that to really get a deck tuned and working at it's maximum potential that you'd want to add as many of the "fetch" lands as possible: Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills, Krosan Verge.
These all allow you to shuffle your deck to get another top deck look. Obviously $$ expensive, so maybe just look to buy one every so often, and can always be used in the future for other decks. Will never not go to use.
Ya, after reading through your suggestions and going back through the deck, it has a serious issue of feeling directionless. The angels are cards I enjoy but really don't further my game plan any a meaningful way, I'll just need to find them a dedicated lifelink deck or something. Dromoka's command a meta choice as I have friends that love the theros gods and its typically a good way to answer them along with possibly a 2 for 1 with the fight.(Similarily with settle the wreckage, lots of hexproof/indestructible voltron) Overall though I think I'll go all in on the birthing pod/ETB/Silver bullet style of deck, taking out the beatsticks and finding good pod targets while keeping in Resto/Bramble. You are also right about devoted/vizier being good for the deck, especially now that I think about it being able to be grabbed with Uncage.
The main issue I have is more of a personal/meta one, but I really don't like racing towards a combo, I enjoy grinding people out through value accumulation (Tireless Tracker is my favorite magic card) but as my meta powers up it seems like I do need these game enders in my deck in order to compete. I' slightly worried that the deck might end up devolving into simply tutoring for my combo pieces rather than for silver bullets/utility creatures, but I suppose the nature of the combos not being game winning on their own/without a board would mitigate this.
Also ya I need to invest in a nicer manabase, and fetches would help courser/tireless/reliquary immensely. Mistcutter is also a personal favorite but I recognize it's not particularly powerful, I mostly just like the idea of having something for ranger of eos to grab late game.
I' slightly worried that the deck might end up devolving into simply tutoring for my combo pieces rather than for silver bullets/utility creatures, but I suppose the nature of the combos not being game winning on their own/without a board would mitigate this.
There is an element of this, but I guess you'll be "pleasantly" surprised how often you're disrupted on combos and have to go back to fair means of value. You only have the two combos, as far as I can tell, Spike/Thune and the Devoted Druid/Vizier of Remedies, so it's not like you would be stocked with them.
The sad thing about the Restoration Angel is that you can't use it with Shalai, Voice of Plenty as it's an Angel, and often this would be the card you'd like to blink in the face of spot removal, as the rest have hexproof anyway
Obviously there are some budget exclusions and some pet cards still present, as well as the manabase being mostly a placeholder (utility lands not withstanding). The meta I play in is decidedly 75%, fairly optimized, combos and game winning synergies are tolerated and fairly frequent, but still plenty of creature/combat decks.
The general idea I went with was a valuetown/GW midrange deck with the Spike/Thune combo and a number of tutors in order to keep pace with the more linear decks, while still having the main gameplan to grind people out and maybe hit with some commander damage. Is there anything I glaringly missed or any pet cards that you think I really can't justify? I've been toying around with this deck for a while and keep remaking it/making changes so I thought some outside feedback would be good.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/shalai-waluetown/?cb=1532068318
To get a deck to be more consistant and competitive then the ability to toolbox for particular cards/creatures is important, and you've already expressed that you like Cord of Calling.
Cards I'd like to see in the deck:
Add
Birthing Pod
Oracle of Mul Daya
Eternal Witness
Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Worldly Tutor
Heroic Intervention
Teferi's Protection
Skullclamp
Sensei's Divining Top
Remove
Resplendent Angel - i know it's new and exciting, but you already have a mana sink commander, and your life gain is actually pretty minimal in the deck.
Luminarch Ascension - underwelming when it actually come to getting this card to work the way you want it.
Settle the Wreckage - Not as good in multiplayer, as giving an opponent extra lands in more of a battlecruiser format does negate the creature loss. Also hard to get value if you're looking to do it to your own creatures for ramp. Just an awkward card I've found with my own play testing.
Dromoka's Command - Not as good in multiplayer as you might want.
Condemn - too conditional, Path to Exile is better.
Sublime Archangel - exalted does not really work that well in this deck.
Mistcutter Hydra - lackluster.
Lyra Dawnbringer - 5 mana for a beater is not really that great, which only gives Shalai +1/+1.
Restoration Angel, Bramble Sovereign - honestly the ETB creatures in this deck are really light in numbers; Greenwarden of Murasa, Jadelight Ranger, Ranger of Eos, Reclamation Sage, Sun Titan, Woodland Bellower.
You've got to be asking yourself for half of those creatures you'll need 8 mana to get value from Bramble Sovereign.
You really need more ETB creature to get consistent value from these creatures.
Look at Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Elvish Rejuvenator as ETB value creatures for mana acceleration, if you want to keep these in. Eternal Witness for the same reason.
Obviously if you can afford her Stoneforge Mystic over Open the Armory.
Lightning Greaves over Swiftfoot Boots, you can get better turns where you play out your mana dorks for "free".
I feel like having one infinite combo can mean that you can look for outs in particular locked up game, so Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies, is probably a good bet with a mana sink commander. Vizier of Remedies can be good against decks that look to -1/-1 your creatures.
Simply remove Boreal Druid for Devoted Druid and your deck doesn't need to change much for this.
Right you already have Courser of Kruphix and Vizier of the Menagerie in the deck, so you've already been playing some top deck manipulation. Pretty much my favorite mechanic in all of Magic, so I am biased towards these cards. But for a reason, it's super powerful and a pseudo card draw which is important for Selesnya colors.
So that's why Oracle of Mul Daya and Sensei's Divining Top are important additions. The Azusa, Lost but Seeking can only really be added once you also have these cards in.
Now it is important that to really get a deck tuned and working at it's maximum potential that you'd want to add as many of the "fetch" lands as possible:
Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills, Krosan Verge.
These all allow you to shuffle your deck to get another top deck look. Obviously $$ expensive, so maybe just look to buy one every so often, and can always be used in the future for other decks. Will never not go to use.
All these things help to give you more power over your deck, other cards that "shuffle" or give you extra looks are: Duskwatch Recruiter, Jadelight Ranger, Knight of the Reliquary, Ranger of Eos, Woodland Bellower, Ajani Unyielding, Vivien Reid, Cultivate, Green Sun's Zenith, Grow from the Ashes, Eladamri's Call, Kodama's Reach, Open the Armory, Uncage the Menagerie.
I mentioning these so that you get an idea of how much better you can get value on a different axis by searching and manipulating your top deck at the same time. I've probably oversold the idea at this stage, but I'm just trying to convey why Birthing Pod, Worldly Tutor, Oracle of Mul Daya, Sensei's Divining Top are great in your deck, because you already have these shuffle, etc effects.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
The main issue I have is more of a personal/meta one, but I really don't like racing towards a combo, I enjoy grinding people out through value accumulation (Tireless Tracker is my favorite magic card) but as my meta powers up it seems like I do need these game enders in my deck in order to compete. I' slightly worried that the deck might end up devolving into simply tutoring for my combo pieces rather than for silver bullets/utility creatures, but I suppose the nature of the combos not being game winning on their own/without a board would mitigate this.
Also ya I need to invest in a nicer manabase, and fetches would help courser/tireless/reliquary immensely. Mistcutter is also a personal favorite but I recognize it's not particularly powerful, I mostly just like the idea of having something for ranger of eos to grab late game.
The sad thing about the Restoration Angel is that you can't use it with Shalai, Voice of Plenty as it's an Angel, and often this would be the card you'd like to blink in the face of spot removal, as the rest have hexproof anyway
As a potential trick you could include Sejiri Steppe as a way of using Knight of the Reliquary to give Shalai instant speed protection.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith