Memory Erosion is very useful as a deterrent to artifact heavy and combo heavy metas, as it can cause problems with them playing multiple cards at once. That aside, it's very reliant on others actions to keep it churning cards, so use with caution.
Mind Crank is good, especially if you're not afraid of combo (with Bloodchief Ascension). I opted against it personally. Despite it acting as a sort of Edric where it encourages people to swing at others than just you, often it doesn't get it's mileage and the goal is to mill, not kill. It's beter saved for decks like Lazav, Dimir mastermind, Oona, Queen of the Fae and Geth, Lord of the Vault which are inherently aggressive to begin with. My wrexial deck generally only swings if there is a purpose to do so, like getting sword/wrexial/nemesis triggers, or if I'm backed into a corner and really need a problem player dead and have the means.
Altar of the Brood I had actually never heard of. I haven't done well with keeping up with the current block. What I can say is that it looks like it is another fantastic combo piece, but again isn't my thing. It DOES synergize well with Oona, Queen of the Fae and Undead Alchemist especially, but I fear without combo it's a bit limited. Using this with Altar of Dementia would be pretty brutal though. Make dudes mill, get dudes, sac dudes mill, quite the durdle engine. So durdly, I may have to try it.
Ghoulcaller's Bell is a diamond in the rough. It's generally ignored, super cheap, and you can take advantage of it too. I'd favor Pyxis of Pandemonium for more fun, but that's just me. On an objective level though, Codex Shredder is still better, however.
I should add that ALL of these are excellent budget options for tossing a deck together and then work on refining from there. ALL of these except Altar of the Brood i have used at one point or another in the building of this deck.
Even in mono black, I strive to keep my spells either as low costed as possible, or unconditional. One of the two.
Single target: Hero's Downfall: Although I try to keep it 2CMC or less, it's ability to hit anything and planeswalkers makes it hard to ignore. Dismember: Kills most and can cost 1 colorless if need be. Tragic Slip: Easy enough to get morbid. Snuff Out: Free is good. Vendetta: The life lost isn't really an issue. Slaughter Pact: 2B isn't terrible for a doomblade, considering you can always cast it. Ashes to Ashes: It's 3CMC again, but EXILES two targets. it's nonartifact which is normally a bit better than nonblack as well. It sucks you have to have two targets, but hey. The lifeloss doesn't really matter in black. Sever the Bloodline: Saved me more than once. Unconditional exile for 3B and stops tokens and clone shenanigans. Flashback only adds value. Shame it's a sorcery. Murder: If you're trying to keep your removal as unconditional as possible, this is still a good option. Sudden Death: Because sometimes you absolutely, positively, need that thing dead, no exceptions. Cabal Pit: Very underestimated and often forgotten. Extinction: Untargeted spot removal.
Board clears: Damnation: Arguably the best. Toxic Deluge: Great value, controllable to situation. Doesn't cripple surviving creatures like BSZ Black Sun's Zenith: Self recurrable, controllable to situation. Leaves a mark on bigger creatures that lived. Kagemaro, First to Suffer: Recurrable body, instant speed, but weak in presence of hand destruction.
Big patch that I've been wanted to add for a while!
Wrexial now has a Budget section!
It's located in the Alternative card options section in the second post. If you're considering building the deck. I may do some formatting to make it be it's own section just called "building" since it more outlines how i'd reccomend going about starting the deck, and less about just what some of the budget options are, but I'll take my victories one at at time.
Honorable mention: Sorin Markov: He suck the fun for some people as one of the 99. I don't mind him, but people swear up and down he needs a ban (inexperienced players, mostly). The hatewagon would roll out strong on him, so he'd get his peace. Ironically, the +2 makes him excellent for tempo lifegain.
For the MOST part, everyone else would be fine. Sure Doubling Season causes some issues with the green walkers, but nothing unbearable. Even Nicol Bolas Planeswalker isn't too bad. His cost is high enough and is color demanding enough you're likely not going to see him any faster than turn 5. Even his big minus is far from busted. Yes, it'll punch a player down, but the hatewagon again will just steamroll bolas. I'd rock bolas though. He'd be fun.
I've missed quite a few sets as far as reviews go, so here's a quick glance over what we had, in reverse chronologic order.
Commander 2014
Arcane Lighthouse: This seems like an autoinclude in just about any deck with Lightning Greaves being a staple. I don't have a ton that targets, but I'm ALWAYS looking for utility in my manabase.
Clever Impersonator: This needs no explanation. Although it doesn't replace Phyrexian Metamorph, it's utility is beyond that of most cards. It'd be hard to NOT run it. With Necrotic Ooze likely on the way out, I think we've found a replacement. playtesting will tell.
Murderous Cut: This could be more useful than most will give it credit in EDH. There is normally at least 4 cards to pitch at any one given moment. If not, even delving for 2 at 2B that's really not bad.
Bloodstained Mire/Polluted Delta: Although I'd prefer the Onslaught border, these will have to do. The price is significantly cheaper and I already got a foil mire. Nice to see Wizards keeping prices in check.
Ugin's Nexus: I currently don't have an issue with time magic in my meta, but I'll keep it in mind for when I do. It's a good silver bullet.
M15
Jace, the Living Guildpact: There are what, 5 Jace's now? Calm down wizards. Overall, he's pretty underwhelming. the topdeck control is cool, but offers addition to hand up front the bounce is fine, but hefty on loyalty. The -8 is pretty backbreaking, but sucks in this deck. Overall, pretty meh.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist: Very cool card I didn't know about! Doesn't help me much though because I don't play too many heavy creatures. Sedris, however..
Agent of Erebos: If I needed to be even more aggressive on grave hate, then this may be a great option. I already have tons of ways to handle graves, but he's hard to ignore.
Disciple of Deceit: Very useful, aggressively costed, but hard to make efficient use out of inspired outside of early game.
So overall, the following are my top picks out of the last few sets that may see some form of iteration in the future:
Arcane Lighthouse: I'll have to figure out a slot for it, but I'd love to see an inclusion.
Wrexial is back from the grave! Or back in it? Whatever. Anyways, fairly big update here, four total card changes, and a lot of stuff coming to the primer! Let's jump right into card changes.
[SPOILER=Card Changes]
[B]Removed Sepulchral Primordial[/b]
This was just a bug fix really. The decklist was showing 100 cards + wrexial. It was originally removed for Sword of Light and Shadow during testing, but I apparently only added it and never removed it. SoLaS earned it's keep. Supulchral Primordial is honestly a liability. If it's in anyone's graveyard, it's literally the only logical target unless you need something out of your own graveyard. If there are clone effects present, it just causes a headache.
-[B]Insidious Dreams removed for Increasing Ambition[/b]
The Ambition is back. Dreams was fun when it went off but had crippling side effects if it failed. This isn't a heavy combo deck and I found myself too often wanting to get one or two cards and be done with it. Ambition is a much welcome tutor with flashback for added useability if it gets milled. Pretty logical change.
-[B]Removed Phenax, God of Deception for Consuming Vapors[/B]
The need for non specific removal has risen once again, and aggro is showing it's ugly face in the meta again. Phenax far undermined my expecations in the worst kind of way. Often he'd just sit there and do nothing. No way to really get a lot of mileage out of him unless using the abberation just made him a bad pick. Damn shame. I'm certain he soars to great heights in a deck built around him, but that's just not present here.
-[B]Removed Darkslick Shores for [CARD]Bloodstained Mire[CARD] (foil)[/b]
This should require no explanation. DSS was only in place for fetches I didn't have, and I now have another one. That's 2/3 of the fetches I want. All I need now is a Delta. Sadly this is a Khan's fetch not a Onslaught fetch, but beggers can't be choosers and I got it for a good trade in pretty foil.
-[B]Removed 1 Swamp for Minamo, School at Water's Edge[/B]
It seems to be a pattern that land changes are always strait forward. Originally, I wanted to keep the swamp count a bit high on hopes and dreams that Cabal Coffers would work, or at least break even as a filter without Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. With two fetches in the picture, and crucible, I'm able to cut a swamp for a great utility land. Blue is the harder of two colors to get, this comes in untapped, and gives Wrexial's big butt a better chance at getting double his normal workload in as an attacker and blocker. It has applications politically, and make's Dralnu, Lich Lord a happy man. Speaking of him..
Now then, through futher playing and discussions here on the primer discussion, some things have been brought to my attention as cuts, and the more I use them the more I agree. Doubling Cube and Necrotic Ooze are probably on their way out. So what do we have to add? well here's a few things i've tossed around:
[LIST=Possible Additions]
[*]Trickbind: Still been watching the meta for how useful it'll be.
[*]Recall: WILL most likely be going in. It's [CARD]Regrowth[CARD] in blue!
[*]Riptide Laboratory I have 6 wizards soon to be 7 with confidant. Idk, just thoughts.
[*]Pedantic Learning This card could be an ALL star in this deck. I want to find one to test it out.
[*]Talisman of Dominance just solid at 2 for 1.
[/LIST]
-[B]Deck Tech & Synergies[/B] has had a few obligatory updates.
-Minor styling updates.
[HR]BLACK[/HR]
There are still numerous bug fixes that need to take place on the Primer. I've been away so long that one of Wrexial's tentacles may as well have been in a grave... or were they always there? [i]Anyways[/i], some of them have been fixed:
[LIST=Bug Fixes]
[*]On the first list, Whispering Madness and Windfall were out of order by CMC. This has been fixed.
[*]Fixed an issue where "The Mill Package" on Deck by Function and "Land" on both lists wasn't showing up as a header for the section. This has been fixed.
[*]A Bold tag was messed up and it caused every other bold tag to mess up making the formatting much more irritating to read. This was present on both post #1 and #2, but rest assured this has been fixed.[/LIST]
[B]IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE ANY OTHER ISSUES,[/b] please don't hesitate to tell me! Below is a list of known-problems I'm working on addressing. If you have any to add, let me know!
[LIST=Known Problems]
[*]None of the pictures are showing up. Although it's difficult to see where they would be, they're supposed to be there. Trust me :P.
[*]Seemingly non of the Table of Content's is working.
[/LIST]
List tags are malformed.
First off, thanks for the hefty reply. I always love getting feedback.
Secondly, I've been a royal laze with keeping this updated. Not much has changed, but a lot of the formatting for it seems to have decayed. Almost all the bold tags don't work, none of the pictures work, it's a mess! I'm gonna have to spend some time fixing this.
Onwards to acual analysis of what was suggested. Putting it in a spoiler tag as to save space.
Subspoiler is for cards you recommended. It's going to seem like I shot down a lot but keep in mind most of these were for flavor or meta reasons.
dark confidant is one of the few cards in my money sucks section that I want to have. I'd love to see your list, but it sounds top heavy if Bob is doing significant damage to you. The curve for my version was purposely kept relatively low because of how much hand cycling occurs.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Leyline of Anticipation, Future Sight, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Time Warp, Bloodchief Ascension: These all were in the deck at one point, and most got cut to put other more theme-fitting cards. Flavor is a huge deal to me in this deck, and a lo of them didn't fit the bill. The ones that did, Sheoldred and Bloodchief for example, didn't fit the flavor because it was doing something that wasn't the goal of the deck. My optimal win is milling the table out, not beating them to death or making them lose life into the ground. I'm not out for consistency of wins, I'm out for quality, and too many times I'd play this card, people would forget about it. No panic, no nothing, just forget. It kicks online despite announcements, then I'd play windfall and suddenly everyone's dying or in a panic. It felt dirty despite being telecasted, so I opted against it.
Wash Out was simply overshadowed by Cyclonic Rift. Between CR, Damnation, and Toxic Deluge I just didn't have room for a 4th board wipe. Exanguinate is overshadowed by Mind Grind in the theme, but it's very powerful and you're trying to be more competitive by all mean use it. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a death sentence in my meta. He'll draw hate for next to no reason, and you'll be come public punching bag #1. If blue were more involved in my meta, I'd certainly consider him as one of my silver bullets. Time Warp is played by a few decks in my meta; I tend to have big explosive turns and it just slows it down more for others so I haven't run it. It's very, very powerful.
Arcanis the Omnipotent is EASILY one of my FAVORITE cards in magic. I had him in many versions of Wrexial and only left before making this an online decklist to make his own deck. I've considered bringing him back, we'll see.
Counterspells: I purposefully don't run counterspells in this deck. Personal choice. Probably a bad choice xD. Clone/Vesuvan Doppelganger: I already have two, metamorph and image. If I were to include a third, it would be Clever Impersonator for obvious reasons. Polluted Delta: Working on it. I did get a Bloodstained Mire, It'll be being updated in soon. Black Sun's Zenith: Good, but again with my position on board wipes. No Mercy for a while, this was a card I wanted to use for a very long time but could never find. I still may consider it.
As for your trimming, I admit there are some things here that I've been rather dissapointed with as of late.
-Doubling Cube was one of the first cards I ever used in magic. I loved it. But lately, It's been being played and not getting anywhere. I'm really considering dropping it for a talisman or some more reliable method of ramping. Maybe Clever Imposter?
-Tunnel Vision I disagree. It's all about how you use it. I don't personally run any cards that will put a card on the bottom of their library to do the cheap combo. Others might, but I don't feel bad piggybacking off someone else. MOST OFTEN, I use it to let someone tutor for a critical answer. Does it cost them half their deck? Sure but whats the price in the end?
-Necrotic Ooze There's a lot more activated abilities in my meta that made this worth the slot, but that's died down. Finding myself more and more disappointed with him and he may see the axe soon.
-Insidious Dreams is almost always used as a dump in response to a Windfall or inside of a Memory Jar. I agree it draws a ton of hate and it's probably going to see an axe in favor of the more reliable Increasing Ambition
-Crypt of Agadeem It's a placeholder for my third fetch really. It makes colored mana, and it might make more than 1. Decent enough for now.
-Exotic Orchard In my meta is just another Command Tower. I realize not everyone is going to have the same luck I have with it.
-Oona, Queen of the Fae Been a clunker as of late, but I'd have a hard time cutting her. I'll consider it.
-Cephalid Coliseum This card has saved me more times and delivered the finishing blow more than I could have ever hoped for. I wouldn't cut it it I were you. It's not much on paper, but in action it's a life saver.
I fully agree. This deck has also earned the nickname "Level Scaling" because the power of the deck fluxes with how powerful your meta's decks are xD. Once the mana starts flowing, you really can pull some wicked plays and pull yourself out of almost any corner.
I appreciate all of your input. The early game is something that needs to be worked on and even though my curve is already very low, there are some modifications that need to be done. I think the area you helped me most in was the reiteration of what I should cut. Your efforts did not go unnoticed, and served to reassure me on things that need to be cut. Look forward to changes soon!
I'm surprised there hasn't been much activity on here lately.
Monkmiroku, what are your opinions on Journey into Nyx? Any cards that you think you might add?
Yea Sorry about that. I've been having a LOT IRL go on so Magic has frankly been on the backburner. Honestly, the new set looked pretty underwhelming as far as this deck is concerned. Only one card stands out as good, that being Disciple of Deceit, but I'm not sure how reliably I can get the trigger off, so testing will have to be done. The only other decent card that might be good is Chariot of Victory, but greaves are way better for my purposes. Mana Confluence isn't an issue to me as my mana base is pretty stable.
One change I have been toying with is Arhcaeomancer in Phenax's spot. Phenax has been under performing as of late, even in the little I've been playing here and there. Either he blows out or he stalls and sits, and I need more consistency. Arhcaeomancer is lower on the curve and provides a much needed service in retrieving one of the harder types of cards to get from my graveyard, and a small body. Recall may replace it, offering access to any card, however.
I put together a Lazav/Wrexial deck myself that I'm hoping I can get some input on. It is hopefully able to use either of these guys as generals, with perhaps a bit more leaning towards Lazav. I thought I would post it here though because even with using Lazav sometimes I took a LOT of inspiration for the deck from this primer. It may have a bit more voltron cards than this Wrexial list, but I still wanted to follow the basic idea of not a lot of targeted mill, while still being able to win with mill or Lazav/Wrexial voltron.
Do you think this is a good deck list for adapting your decklist for more voltron elements?
Lazav offers a very aggressive play style. Ultimately, your goal isn't so much to deck out the table, but beat face. I could be wrong in saying this, but for your purposes, chunking single libraries is actually BETTER in your case. Assuming you have a consistent playgroup, you know who has the creatures you want for lazav. That's when card like Traumatize shine for Lazav. You can mill out player A for his creatures, and use them to kill players B and C while play A bleeds out from mill.
One thing that is certain though, is that you really can't teeter between Lazav or Wrexial for Voltron. If you want to do Lazav as voltron, then build accordingly. Wrexial and Lazav are dynamically too different to play as Voltron and achieve consistent enough results. For Voltron, the commander is the show, so which one you use certainly matters, the polar opposite of a deck like mine, where the commander is a supplement to the plan, and not a lynch pin necessary for the plan to carry out. For Voltron, Lazav honestly is a far better commander to use, however. He has Hexproof, offering instantaneous protection and he's a decently sized 3/3 for 4 mana. He is color demanding though, so keep that in mind with filters or color producing mana rocks. Your list is decent, but here's a few cards that shouldn't be in all together.
Bitter Ordeal I could be wrong in saying this, but the only thing you really have going is board wipe ordeal. Otherwise, it's really hard to get any milage. Consider Sadistic Sacrament Jace's Phantasm even in mill-gro, it's underwhelming. I used it for a long time and it's just not strong enough. Tenacious Dead Again, underwhelming. Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton are almost strictly better, if you're wanting things of it's nature. Wight of Precinct Six like the Phantasm, underwhelming. Consider a Sewer Nemesis or Mortivore, if anything. Memory Erosion All it does is make others upset and feel taxed. Draws hate and doesn't do enough.
AT first I thought that you meant you all had house ruled so that prophet could be considered a legend, ergo a commander. Friends don't let friends play Prophet as commander.
In Wrexial I pack tons of GY hate so I skip on exile removal and wait for it to hit the yard. Still, efficient removal includes those that can't be countered, preferably. Sudden Death sadly is the only one off the top of my head but it's a good one.
Sarkhan the Mad is decent, though not the best. His -2 is still targeted sac removal. his 0 will often flip a land, and because he's going to kill himself he's generally left alone. In my experience just using his 0 I net 2-4 cards with him. It's probably better to run Ancient Craving or something, but he's a fun card, and has some utility.
Nissa Revane is really niche, but in GW elves it works. The life gain is still useful, and in green you have access to Doubling Season which helps get there faster. her ult is GG.
Ajani Vengeant I wholeheartedly disagree. The + keeps key lands, threats, and anything else tapped. It's not Tamiyo, but he's not blue so he doesn't need to be. The Lightning Helix kills 70% of things you need killed, and gains life. The -7 will lock a problem player out of the game. I'd say it's a staple in WR, but that's just me.
Ral Zerak is niche, but I could see some ways to durdle with him. Stasis comes to mind.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver underestimated. Just exiling cards is still resource denial, even if at random. He drops early and the +2 keeps him alive. Because it only effects one player, only one person normally bothers to deal with it. if the -10 goes off it's difficult for opponents to stand back up.
Counterspell it.
Fork it.
Up your ETB creature count to get the most of it.
More manadorks/manarocks to get back in the game faster.
Eat a chocolate bar as others suggested.
Or if you know it's going to be an issue, kill the player before they can use it.
Unconditional exile in black is always good, but there are better. Cannibalize, Sever the Bloodline and Ashes to Ashes are all so much better. Since black has such a wide array of removal as it is, normally you only need one slot for exile anyways, and normally that'd go to Sever, as its flashback and token clearing abilities put it far ahead of the others. If you're trying to double up in heavier control, Ashes is a 2-for-1 and Cannibalize is 2CMC exile and there is almost always dorky 1/1s laying around to pump to offset it's ignorable downside. Gild doesn't really have a place unless you're really trying to ramp into a game ender but need to cruise control on the way up.
I do think it has some application in BUG PlasmCap decks in standard though. Just not sure what exactly to ramp into.
GSZ is the major reason, but it has other uses. It gives you a 0CMC creature for Birthing Pod chain. It's still a forest so you can fetch it in with fetches for surprise blocks, and as a creature it can be pitched to survival or other outlets.
It does have the definitive disadvantage of being hit by sweepers, however.
Not much competition here. Wall dropping T2 makes it a huge advantage over Carven. If you've just got two lands but can cast blossoms, that means you have 3 draws to work with to find another land instead of 2, which makes a huge difference. Not only this, but its 1G. Even of Carven was GG instead of 1GG there's the definitive advantage of just being easier to cast.
All seem pretty cool for a 1/1 counter deck. My vote goes to Krajj, vorel as a second but the other two add colors which is good. Marath could be good too.
Mind Crank is good, especially if you're not afraid of combo (with Bloodchief Ascension). I opted against it personally. Despite it acting as a sort of Edric where it encourages people to swing at others than just you, often it doesn't get it's mileage and the goal is to mill, not kill. It's beter saved for decks like Lazav, Dimir mastermind, Oona, Queen of the Fae and Geth, Lord of the Vault which are inherently aggressive to begin with. My wrexial deck generally only swings if there is a purpose to do so, like getting sword/wrexial/nemesis triggers, or if I'm backed into a corner and really need a problem player dead and have the means.
Altar of the Brood I had actually never heard of. I haven't done well with keeping up with the current block. What I can say is that it looks like it is another fantastic combo piece, but again isn't my thing. It DOES synergize well with Oona, Queen of the Fae and Undead Alchemist especially, but I fear without combo it's a bit limited. Using this with Altar of Dementia would be pretty brutal though. Make dudes mill, get dudes, sac dudes mill, quite the durdle engine. So durdly, I may have to try it.
Ghoulcaller's Bell is a diamond in the rough. It's generally ignored, super cheap, and you can take advantage of it too. I'd favor Pyxis of Pandemonium for more fun, but that's just me. On an objective level though, Codex Shredder is still better, however.
I should add that ALL of these are excellent budget options for tossing a deck together and then work on refining from there. ALL of these except Altar of the Brood i have used at one point or another in the building of this deck.
Single target:
Hero's Downfall: Although I try to keep it 2CMC or less, it's ability to hit anything and planeswalkers makes it hard to ignore.
Dismember: Kills most and can cost 1 colorless if need be.
Tragic Slip: Easy enough to get morbid.
Snuff Out: Free is good.
Vendetta: The life lost isn't really an issue.
Slaughter Pact: 2B isn't terrible for a doomblade, considering you can always cast it.
Ashes to Ashes: It's 3CMC again, but EXILES two targets. it's nonartifact which is normally a bit better than nonblack as well. It sucks you have to have two targets, but hey. The lifeloss doesn't really matter in black.
Sever the Bloodline: Saved me more than once. Unconditional exile for 3B and stops tokens and clone shenanigans. Flashback only adds value. Shame it's a sorcery.
Murder: If you're trying to keep your removal as unconditional as possible, this is still a good option.
Sudden Death: Because sometimes you absolutely, positively, need that thing dead, no exceptions.
Cabal Pit: Very underestimated and often forgotten.
Extinction: Untargeted spot removal.
Sacrifice:
Consuming Vapors: Useful for life gain, especially with massive creatures like Consuming Abberation. The rebound often goes forgotten as well.
Tribute to Hunger: Sometimes you need instant vapors.
Innocent Blood: 1Mana everyone sacs.
Fleshbag Marauder: Needs no introduction. Each other player sacs basically.
Barter in Blood: All sac 2.
Board clears:
Damnation: Arguably the best.
Toxic Deluge: Great value, controllable to situation. Doesn't cripple surviving creatures like BSZ
Black Sun's Zenith: Self recurrable, controllable to situation. Leaves a mark on bigger creatures that lived.
Kagemaro, First to Suffer: Recurrable body, instant speed, but weak in presence of hand destruction.
Wrexial now has a Budget section!
It's located in the Alternative card options section in the second post. If you're considering building the deck. I may do some formatting to make it be it's own section just called "building" since it more outlines how i'd reccomend going about starting the deck, and less about just what some of the budget options are, but I'll take my victories one at at time.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Just no.
Venser the Sojourner: It'd be fun, but pillowfort control for the -8 is too easy.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage: Protects herself well and has a rather backbreaking ultimate like Venser.
Honorable mention: Sorin Markov: He suck the fun for some people as one of the 99. I don't mind him, but people swear up and down he needs a ban (inexperienced players, mostly). The hatewagon would roll out strong on him, so he'd get his peace. Ironically, the +2 makes him excellent for tempo lifegain.
For the MOST part, everyone else would be fine. Sure Doubling Season causes some issues with the green walkers, but nothing unbearable. Even Nicol Bolas Planeswalker isn't too bad. His cost is high enough and is color demanding enough you're likely not going to see him any faster than turn 5. Even his big minus is far from busted. Yes, it'll punch a player down, but the hatewagon again will just steamroll bolas. I'd rock bolas though. He'd be fun.
I've missed quite a few sets as far as reviews go, so here's a quick glance over what we had, in reverse chronologic order.
Commander 2014
Khan's of Tarkir
M15
Journey Into Nyx
So overall, the following are my top picks out of the last few sets that may see some form of iteration in the future:
[SPOILER=Card Changes]
[B]Removed Sepulchral Primordial[/b]
This was just a bug fix really. The decklist was showing 100 cards + wrexial. It was originally removed for Sword of Light and Shadow during testing, but I apparently only added it and never removed it. SoLaS earned it's keep. Supulchral Primordial is honestly a liability. If it's in anyone's graveyard, it's literally the only logical target unless you need something out of your own graveyard. If there are clone effects present, it just causes a headache.
-[B]Insidious Dreams removed for Increasing Ambition[/b]
The Ambition is back. Dreams was fun when it went off but had crippling side effects if it failed. This isn't a heavy combo deck and I found myself too often wanting to get one or two cards and be done with it. Ambition is a much welcome tutor with flashback for added useability if it gets milled. Pretty logical change.
-[B]Removed Phenax, God of Deception for Consuming Vapors[/B]
The need for non specific removal has risen once again, and aggro is showing it's ugly face in the meta again. Phenax far undermined my expecations in the worst kind of way. Often he'd just sit there and do nothing. No way to really get a lot of mileage out of him unless using the abberation just made him a bad pick. Damn shame. I'm certain he soars to great heights in a deck built around him, but that's just not present here.
-[B]Removed Darkslick Shores for [CARD]Bloodstained Mire[CARD] (foil)[/b]
This should require no explanation. DSS was only in place for fetches I didn't have, and I now have another one. That's 2/3 of the fetches I want. All I need now is a Delta. Sadly this is a Khan's fetch not a Onslaught fetch, but beggers can't be choosers and I got it for a good trade in pretty foil.
-[B]Removed 1 Swamp for Minamo, School at Water's Edge[/B]
It seems to be a pattern that land changes are always strait forward. Originally, I wanted to keep the swamp count a bit high on hopes and dreams that Cabal Coffers would work, or at least break even as a filter without Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. With two fetches in the picture, and crucible, I'm able to cut a swamp for a great utility land. Blue is the harder of two colors to get, this comes in untapped, and gives Wrexial's big butt a better chance at getting double his normal workload in as an attacker and blocker. It has applications politically, and make's Dralnu, Lich Lord a happy man. Speaking of him..
-[B]Dralnu, Lich Lord is now foiled![/B]
[/spoiler]
Now then, through futher playing and discussions here on the primer discussion, some things have been brought to my attention as cuts, and the more I use them the more I agree.
Doubling Cube and Necrotic Ooze are probably on their way out. So what do we have to add? well here's a few things i've tossed around:
[LIST=Possible Additions]
[*]Trickbind: Still been watching the meta for how useful it'll be.
[*]Recall: WILL most likely be going in. It's [CARD]Regrowth[CARD] in blue!
[*]Riptide Laboratory I have 6 wizards soon to be 7 with confidant. Idk, just thoughts.
[*]Pedantic Learning This card could be an ALL star in this deck. I want to find one to test it out.
[*]Talisman of Dominance just solid at 2 for 1.
[/LIST]
-[B]Deck Tech & Synergies[/B] has had a few obligatory updates.
-Minor styling updates.
[HR]BLACK[/HR]
There are still numerous bug fixes that need to take place on the Primer. I've been away so long that one of Wrexial's tentacles may as well have been in a grave... or were they always there? [i]Anyways[/i], some of them have been fixed:
[LIST=Bug Fixes]
[*]On the first list, Whispering Madness and Windfall were out of order by CMC. This has been fixed.
[*]Fixed an issue where "The Mill Package" on Deck by Function and "Land" on both lists wasn't showing up as a header for the section. This has been fixed.
[*]A Bold tag was messed up and it caused every other bold tag to mess up making the formatting much more irritating to read. This was present on both post #1 and #2, but rest assured this has been fixed.[/LIST]
[B]IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE ANY OTHER ISSUES,[/b] please don't hesitate to tell me! Below is a list of known-problems I'm working on addressing. If you have any to add, let me know!
[LIST=Known Problems]
[*]None of the pictures are showing up. Although it's difficult to see where they would be, they're supposed to be there. Trust me :P.
[*]Seemingly non of the Table of Content's is working.
[/LIST]
List tags are malformed.
Secondly, I've been a royal laze with keeping this updated. Not much has changed, but a lot of the formatting for it seems to have decayed. Almost all the bold tags don't work, none of the pictures work, it's a mess! I'm gonna have to spend some time fixing this.
Onwards to acual analysis of what was suggested. Putting it in a spoiler tag as to save space.
Subspoiler is for cards you recommended. It's going to seem like I shot down a lot but keep in mind most of these were for flavor or meta reasons.
dark confidant is one of the few cards in my money sucks section that I want to have. I'd love to see your list, but it sounds top heavy if Bob is doing significant damage to you. The curve for my version was purposely kept relatively low because of how much hand cycling occurs.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Leyline of Anticipation, Future Sight, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Time Warp, Bloodchief Ascension: These all were in the deck at one point, and most got cut to put other more theme-fitting cards. Flavor is a huge deal to me in this deck, and a lo of them didn't fit the bill. The ones that did, Sheoldred and Bloodchief for example, didn't fit the flavor because it was doing something that wasn't the goal of the deck. My optimal win is milling the table out, not beating them to death or making them lose life into the ground. I'm not out for consistency of wins, I'm out for quality, and too many times I'd play this card, people would forget about it. No panic, no nothing, just forget. It kicks online despite announcements, then I'd play windfall and suddenly everyone's dying or in a panic. It felt dirty despite being telecasted, so I opted against it.
Wash Out was simply overshadowed by Cyclonic Rift. Between CR, Damnation, and Toxic Deluge I just didn't have room for a 4th board wipe.
Exanguinate is overshadowed by Mind Grind in the theme, but it's very powerful and you're trying to be more competitive by all mean use it.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a death sentence in my meta. He'll draw hate for next to no reason, and you'll be come public punching bag #1. If blue were more involved in my meta, I'd certainly consider him as one of my silver bullets.
Time Warp is played by a few decks in my meta; I tend to have big explosive turns and it just slows it down more for others so I haven't run it. It's very, very powerful.
Arcanis the Omnipotent is EASILY one of my FAVORITE cards in magic. I had him in many versions of Wrexial and only left before making this an online decklist to make his own deck. I've considered bringing him back, we'll see.
Counterspells: I purposefully don't run counterspells in this deck. Personal choice. Probably a bad choice xD.
Clone/Vesuvan Doppelganger: I already have two, metamorph and image. If I were to include a third, it would be Clever Impersonator for obvious reasons.
Polluted Delta: Working on it. I did get a Bloodstained Mire, It'll be being updated in soon.
Black Sun's Zenith: Good, but again with my position on board wipes.
No Mercy for a while, this was a card I wanted to use for a very long time but could never find. I still may consider it.
-Doubling Cube was one of the first cards I ever used in magic. I loved it. But lately, It's been being played and not getting anywhere. I'm really considering dropping it for a talisman or some more reliable method of ramping. Maybe Clever Imposter?
-Tunnel Vision I disagree. It's all about how you use it. I don't personally run any cards that will put a card on the bottom of their library to do the cheap combo. Others might, but I don't feel bad piggybacking off someone else. MOST OFTEN, I use it to let someone tutor for a critical answer. Does it cost them half their deck? Sure but whats the price in the end?
-Necrotic Ooze There's a lot more activated abilities in my meta that made this worth the slot, but that's died down. Finding myself more and more disappointed with him and he may see the axe soon.
-Insidious Dreams is almost always used as a dump in response to a Windfall or inside of a Memory Jar. I agree it draws a ton of hate and it's probably going to see an axe in favor of the more reliable Increasing Ambition
-Crypt of Agadeem It's a placeholder for my third fetch really. It makes colored mana, and it might make more than 1. Decent enough for now.
-Exotic Orchard In my meta is just another Command Tower. I realize not everyone is going to have the same luck I have with it.
-Oona, Queen of the Fae Been a clunker as of late, but I'd have a hard time cutting her. I'll consider it.
-Cephalid Coliseum This card has saved me more times and delivered the finishing blow more than I could have ever hoped for. I wouldn't cut it it I were you. It's not much on paper, but in action it's a life saver.
I fully agree. This deck has also earned the nickname "Level Scaling" because the power of the deck fluxes with how powerful your meta's decks are xD. Once the mana starts flowing, you really can pull some wicked plays and pull yourself out of almost any corner.
I appreciate all of your input. The early game is something that needs to be worked on and even though my curve is already very low, there are some modifications that need to be done. I think the area you helped me most in was the reiteration of what I should cut. Your efforts did not go unnoticed, and served to reassure me on things that need to be cut. Look forward to changes soon!
You're absolutely right I did. Thanks.
Yea Sorry about that. I've been having a LOT IRL go on so Magic has frankly been on the backburner. Honestly, the new set looked pretty underwhelming as far as this deck is concerned. Only one card stands out as good, that being Disciple of Deceit, but I'm not sure how reliably I can get the trigger off, so testing will have to be done. The only other decent card that might be good is Chariot of Victory, but greaves are way better for my purposes. Mana Confluence isn't an issue to me as my mana base is pretty stable.
One change I have been toying with is Arhcaeomancer in Phenax's spot. Phenax has been under performing as of late, even in the little I've been playing here and there. Either he blows out or he stalls and sits, and I need more consistency. Arhcaeomancer is lower on the curve and provides a much needed service in retrieving one of the harder types of cards to get from my graveyard, and a small body. Recall may replace it, offering access to any card, however.
Lazav offers a very aggressive play style. Ultimately, your goal isn't so much to deck out the table, but beat face. I could be wrong in saying this, but for your purposes, chunking single libraries is actually BETTER in your case. Assuming you have a consistent playgroup, you know who has the creatures you want for lazav. That's when card like Traumatize shine for Lazav. You can mill out player A for his creatures, and use them to kill players B and C while play A bleeds out from mill.
One thing that is certain though, is that you really can't teeter between Lazav or Wrexial for Voltron. If you want to do Lazav as voltron, then build accordingly. Wrexial and Lazav are dynamically too different to play as Voltron and achieve consistent enough results. For Voltron, the commander is the show, so which one you use certainly matters, the polar opposite of a deck like mine, where the commander is a supplement to the plan, and not a lynch pin necessary for the plan to carry out. For Voltron, Lazav honestly is a far better commander to use, however. He has Hexproof, offering instantaneous protection and he's a decently sized 3/3 for 4 mana. He is color demanding though, so keep that in mind with filters or color producing mana rocks. Your list is decent, but here's a few cards that shouldn't be in all together.
Bitter Ordeal I could be wrong in saying this, but the only thing you really have going is board wipe ordeal. Otherwise, it's really hard to get any milage. Consider Sadistic Sacrament
Jace's Phantasm even in mill-gro, it's underwhelming. I used it for a long time and it's just not strong enough.
Tenacious Dead Again, underwhelming. Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton are almost strictly better, if you're wanting things of it's nature.
Wight of Precinct Six like the Phantasm, underwhelming. Consider a Sewer Nemesis or Mortivore, if anything.
Memory Erosion All it does is make others upset and feel taxed. Draws hate and doesn't do enough.
In Wrexial I pack tons of GY hate so I skip on exile removal and wait for it to hit the yard. Still, efficient removal includes those that can't be countered, preferably. Sudden Death sadly is the only one off the top of my head but it's a good one.
Nissa Revane is really niche, but in GW elves it works. The life gain is still useful, and in green you have access to Doubling Season which helps get there faster. her ult is GG.
Ajani Vengeant I wholeheartedly disagree. The + keeps key lands, threats, and anything else tapped. It's not Tamiyo, but he's not blue so he doesn't need to be. The Lightning Helix kills 70% of things you need killed, and gains life. The -7 will lock a problem player out of the game. I'd say it's a staple in WR, but that's just me.
Ral Zerak is niche, but I could see some ways to durdle with him. Stasis comes to mind.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver underestimated. Just exiling cards is still resource denial, even if at random. He drops early and the +2 keeps him alive. Because it only effects one player, only one person normally bothers to deal with it. if the -10 goes off it's difficult for opponents to stand back up.
Fork it.
Up your ETB creature count to get the most of it.
More manadorks/manarocks to get back in the game faster.
Eat a chocolate bar as others suggested.
Or if you know it's going to be an issue, kill the player before they can use it.
I do think it has some application in BUG PlasmCap decks in standard though. Just not sure what exactly to ramp into.
It does have the definitive disadvantage of being hit by sweepers, however.
All seem pretty cool for a 1/1 counter deck. My vote goes to Krajj, vorel as a second but the other two add colors which is good. Marath could be good too.