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I compared lots of Shirei lists and was very surprised to see how little protection most decks run. In fact, I don't really like how most of the lists are built in general.
Most lists were running Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots and Darksteel Plate as their only protection spells. Even with tutors, this doesn't seem like enough.
Personally, I think maybe 5 slots for protection would be a good starting point. Am I being too ambitious with Strands of Undeath? Its high casting cost makes it almost guaranteed that I will have to cast it the turn after Shirei, which isn't always realistic.
Maybe Whispersilk Cloak could make a good inclusion and I could cut Strands for Kaya's Ghostform or another 1-mana spell.
In addition to this, cards like Cadaver Imp and Dutiful Attendant can also make getting around the commander tax pretty easy by letting Shirei go to the graveyard.
I thought Ruin Rat was kinda of junk, but the more I think about it the more I like it. Selective graveyard hate at (hopefully) instant speed on a 1-power creature that is also a deathtoucher is so much rolled into one. I think this might be a very important card to have for multiplayer decks.
You may be right about the protection spells. How many do you recommend running in a Shirei deck?
My opponent attacks with an unblocked creature and takes the monarchy from me.
On his second main phase, I sacrifice my Thorn to the Carrion Feeder, which triggers Shirei. On their end step, they place their card draw trigger from the Monarchy first, then my Shirei trigger is placed on top of the stack.
Thorn comes back and makes me the monarch again. Does my opponent still get the card draw from the the monarchy trigger even if they are no longer the monarch?
Thank you!
Thanks again for the great comments.
I ended up cutting both Innocent Blood and Slum Reaper. Hopefully Abyssal Gatekeeper will pull his weight.
This is for multiplayer. I think that with almost 50 creatures, I will have enough of a board presence to make it easy to defend. We will see. If not, there are plenty of 1-power deathtoucher out there (I already have 2).
I cut Gnawing Zombie, finally. I'm now down to 16 outlets, which seems like about the right place to be.
Mortuary Mire is in.
I still have to cut 1 card, but I also want to make room for other stuff. It's getting difficult, for sure!
Yeah, I thought so as well. I'm not such a fan of Rituals, but maybe they would be okay. I would like to find room for Leaden Myr and maybe Manakin for synergistic ramp.
I forgot that Ashnod's Altar was printed at common in Chronicles! Thank you! I'll definitely find space for it.
I'm not a huge fan of 1-shot protection in this deck, but maybe a few would be a good idea.
Qarsi Sadist was on my radar, but I just don't like that it only targets one player. Maybe it's still good enough.
The problem is finding space for all these cards! What would you cut?
EDIT: After some difficult cuts, I'm now down to 100 cards and have managed to fit in Reaping the Graves, Ashnod's Altar and Leaden Myr. I now have 5 soures of ramp, which seems pretty decent.
One card I still absolutely want to include is Gray Merchant of Asphodel. I wouldn't say no to another protection spell, but I think fitting it in will be difficult.
EDIT: I've made room for Gray Merchant. I'm looking forward to shrinking him with Plagued Rusalka or Fume Spitter then sacrificing it to return him every end step and end the game.
I did forget about Ashen-Skin Zubera. He was on my radar but must have slipped the list while I was making it.
I already cut Undercity Scavenger and Voracious Null. Thank you!
Gnawing Zombie I will keep because he a rare case of being both a sac outlet and a 1-power creature, making him fill the role of outlet and random blocker/fodder quite nicely in this deck.
Good call on Evincar's Justice.
Sometimes you need an edict, so I figured Slum Reaper was pretty decent in this deck since we like saccing our own stuff and it affects all players. I think I would cut Innocent Blood over Reaper. What do you think?
I have plenty of lifegain, so no need for lifestaff I think. I like the construct and the Shred Memory, but I think finding space will be difficult.
Finally, a good home for Chimney Imp!
1 Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
Sacrifice Outlets (16)
1 Culling the Weak
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Viscera Seer
1 Thoughtpicker Witch
1 Plagued Rusalka
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Soldevi Adnate
1 Corpse Blockade
1 Nantuko Husk
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Vampire Aristocrat
1 Spark Reaper
1 Vulturous Aven
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Silumgar Scavenger
Sacrifice Fodder (24)
1 Blood Pet
1 Festering Mummy
1 Fume Spitter
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Basal Thrull
1 Black Cat
1 Burglar Rat
1 Doomed Dissenter
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Lazotep Reaver
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Perilous Myr
1 Ruin Rat
1 Sultai Emissary
1 Tattered Mummy
1 Thrull Surgeon
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Dutiful Attendant
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Skittering Surveyor
1 Skyscanner
1 Chimney Imp
Other Creatures (5)
1 Mortician Beetle
1 Leaden Myr
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Thorn of the Black Rose
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Removal (7)
1 Bone Splinters
1 Spark Harvest
1 Vicious Offering
1 Severed Strands
1 Victim of Night
1 Crypt Rats
1 Pestilence
Protection (5)
1 Kaya's Ghostform
1 Dark Privilege
1 Blessing of Leeches
1 Soul Channeling
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Altar's Reap
1 Costly Plunder
1 Reaping the Graves
Lands (38)
1 Barren Moor
1 Polluted Mire
1 Desert of the Glorified
1 Desert
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Mortuary Mire
32 Swamp
Additional information about the deck's breakdown:
I agree that Student of Ojutai should probably be Seeker of the Way. It has a cheaper casting cost, same power, prowess and will likely gain you just as much life through combat.
I also agree that Kor Skyfisher would give you better game by having some presence in the air. It's also a great way to get more value out of something like Heliod's Pilgrim or just replaying a Radiant Fountain.
A lot of Mono-White lists will play Haunted Fengraf as a way to get good value out of their lands in the late game. I feel like 1-2 of these could replace Kabira Crossroads.
If you're not playing with online legalities only, you should think about playing Desert. This card is insanely good in Pauper. With all your lifegain, you can definitely soak up some hits and kill some creatures with your lands.
For your sideboard, I think you would enjoy Prismatic Strands over some of your Circles. This card is super effective. At worst, it's a fog for all of your opponents damage (combat and non-combat), at best, it's a one-sided board wipe. With a free flashback.
Yes, I think this card might be the very best answer to burn we've seen so far. I imagine it will be quite easy to play for 9 life or more, considering how many spells they play on their turn on top of whatever we're able to play. Should be sweet!
All in all, these are my favourites from the set:
Martyr's Soul,
Faerie Seer,
Rain of Revelation,
Scour All Possibilities,
Stream of Thought,
Defile,
Shenanigans,
Orcish Hellraiser,
Savage Swipe,
Weather the Storm.
It's very rare that we get so many playables in just one set. Across all colours, too. Blue definitely seems to get more goodies, but I think other cards will have more impact.
I feel like Blast Zone could be good just as a catch-all land. Getting it up to 3 counters to kill Animar, Soul of Elements or something seems good. We can even copy it with Thespian's Stage to blow up all tokens and 0-cost stuff. It's a bit on the slow side, but definitely still want to try it out.
Have you thought about using phasing to protect your commander from removal or remove blockers? Vanishing seems like it would be pretty good. Maybe Reality Ripple, too.
And what about Emergence Zone? Being able to play spells at instant speed and getting a free 5/3 seems like it could allow for even deadlier turns for us before we untap.
Return from Extinction is an excellent card. Not too hard to get the value out of it, even in non-tribal decks.
I wonder about Mob. Convoke seems difficult to pull off. You definitely don't want to pay more than 1B for it, but that's already quite an investment of creatures on the battlefield.
Recruit the worthy seems good if you're not in green for Sprout Swarm.
Eyekite is very easy to activate, making it a 2-mana Delver of Secrets, basically. You do have to keep cantripping ever turn before combat, so the combination of the extra cost and this downside makes me think it won't see a whole lot of play. Maybe alongside other efficient fliers.
Phantasmal Form could be a cool finisher in some decks. I like that it cantrips. It can give you evasion and one final little boost in power with a Kiln Fiend or something and get in for the kill. Or maybe turn some weenies like Faeries or Mana dorks into actual threats. 6 damage for 3 mana and a draw is pretty sweet.
Rain of Revelation is an awesome card. It's so simple, yet so powerful as an instant. I could definitely see this as a 1-2 in many control decks.