First, thx to theonecalledrune and everyone posting in his Marchesa thread; it has been a great help!
The focus off this deck was to get the creature count as high as possible, with a smooth not-too-high curve. It plays like an aggro deck, but has a great late game since the creatures are hard to get rid of. It has quite some card draw to keep the army getting bigger and bigger, and has answers to almost everything.
Downside of the deck is the dependency on the general, so if you can't get Marchesa to stick around the deck is a bit crippled. Also, cards like Rest in Peace can really shut the deck down hard.
Nice list, I never considered Legion Loyalist before but wanna try him now!
Disciple of Griselbrand; I don't really like non-free sac outlets and gaining life could put you on the throne.
The only thing Taurean Mauler can do is grow into a large beater, but then everything in the deck is about having stuff die and recurring it, which kinda defeats the purpose of this card.
I would personally cut some of the non-creature cards; not because they're bad cards but simply because we want as many creatures as possible.
I've been running a Phantasmal Image in my list recently and I actually quite like it. Yes he's vulnerable, but since Marchesa's abilities don't target, he works.. Anyone else ever considered him? Or any reasons not to run him?
Also, i've put in a Sword of the Animist to try out. It's nice but i'm still in doubt since it doesn't really synergize with the rest of the list; any thoughts on that one?
I'd always throw a few counterspells in a blue deck to preserve your big spells. Bounce lands for HDepths. Any issues with mass removal?
I agree on the adding counters, especially Forbid seems like an excellent fit for the deck. Mass removal is kinda already in the deck in the form of Curse of the swine, Cyclonic rift, Evacuation and even Capsize when having lots of mana. The advantage of bounce is that with the amount of mana available, most of the time you can recast everything in one turn again.
The deck has its main focus on card draw instead of large creatures or swarms of tokens (although it has those too). I'm not sure if that is the most competitive route but imo its the most fun one! Also, with a load of mana and a 30 card hand, you can handle almost any situation.
I'm currently still trying to find the best balance between ramp, draw, interact and threats since the deck needs all those aspects to win and therefore sometimes just tends to durdle around and do nothing. So any advice is very welcome!
However, some restrictions apply;
*I try to keep it a bit on a budget, like my other decks it is between $100 and $200
*Does not involve an infinite combo, which are frowned upon in my playgroup and I personally don't like to play
Yesterday I played a game of EDH with 3 players. Both opponents had a Smokestack, both with 1 counter on it. The previous turn I attached a Reality Acid to one of the Smokestacks.
Then my upkeer begins with me having to sac 1 permanent for each Smokestack in play. I sacced Reality Acid for the first Smokestack-trigger in order to get rid of the other smokestack with Acid attached to it, thus not having to sac another permanent. The other players, however, told me the second smokestack trigger was already on the stack.. I went ahead with them but I'm still in doubt of how this works.. Anyone?
I also run Rest in Peace for more graveyard hate. While it doesn't go well with Sun Titan, it completely shuts down several deck in my meta.
I found Vanishing by far the best way to keep Brago alive, with 2 blue mana open there is just no way to get rid of him. Especially since all aura's and equipments attached to him phase out with Brago.
I'm considering adding Hive Mind. It doesn't synergize with Brago, but since I run almost no instants/sorceries it would make things a lot harder for opponents than it does for me. Any thoughts on this?
I see you're considering Mystic Remora; you should definitely run it! It once gained me 7 cards in one round of turns of a 5 player commander game. I really don't know why this card sees so little play in any deck that runs blue..
I also played a few counterspells, but ended up only using them for protecting brago. Therefore I switched them for more protection such as lightning Greaves, Gift of Immortality, etc.
Vanishing is imo one of the best ways of protecting your commander; it makes him practically invincible! You should really consider that one.. Alternatively you can use it to lock other commanders out of the game
Thx for the reply! Would like to see your decklist, if it's on the internets somewhere..
I agree that a card such as Attended Knight isn't that great, but casting a Myr Battlesphere and blinking it in the same turn gets you 8 tokens which poses a real threat. However, although Knight-Captain of Eos provides his own sac outlet, adding a Skullclamp seems like an excellent idea!
- Concerning Raven Familiar, doesn't blinking him requires you to pay the echo cost over and over? Not sure about that though..
- Since almost all my enchantments cost three or less, Sun Titan makes Auramancer feel kinda less useful.
- Mana isn't really a problem with the manarocks I run so I chose to leave out Kor Cartographer; Solemn Simulacrum should be enough.
I like all the other suggestions, will look into them! Especially Resolute Archangel, since many players in my meta are running the very lame Sorin Markov..
Just like my other decks, this one also fits the following criteria:
*Is on a budget, preferably below / around $100,-
*Does not involve an infinite combo, which we don't allow in our playgroup
*Is fun to play; for me meaning interactive
*Has a chance of winning from time to time within my meta consisting of rather expensive decks, because what's more fun than defeating a $1000+ deck with a pile of craprares
The deck thus far is good at controlling multiple opponents and is quite competitive, at least in my meta. The biggest downside of the deck is the dependency of Brago, King Eternal, which without him doesn't function really. That's why there is a lot of cards in the deck that protect my general, as well as some counters for dealing with ***-type spells (which are heavily played in my meta).
1) I run, or ran, all cards you mentioned here in my Melek, izzet paragon deck. They where most of the time only useful when copied since it draws you an extra card, but other than that they all feel underwhelming.
2) Seems like a nice card, expensive, but also able to protect himself with his ability. Considering him for my Brago, King Eternal deck.
3) Used Djinn Illuminatus for some time since he looked good to me in theory, but in practice he wasn't really that useful since it requires a lot of mana to cast him and make him useful in the same turn by replicating a bunch of spells. After that he barely ever lasted for another turn. Personally found Galvanoth and Charmbreaker Devils a lot more useful at the top of the curve, but that is of course deck-specific.
4) No experience with this guy.
5) I'm not a fan of (sorcery speed) pay a lot, draw cards. They feel like a bad deal if you only draw two or three cards with them, and drawing, say, four cards, there are better alternatives such as Opportunity (also, instant speed).
The focus off this deck was to get the creature count as high as possible, with a smooth not-too-high curve. It plays like an aggro deck, but has a great late game since the creatures are hard to get rid of. It has quite some card draw to keep the army getting bigger and bigger, and has answers to almost everything.
Downside of the deck is the dependency on the general, so if you can't get Marchesa to stick around the deck is a bit crippled. Also, cards like Rest in Peace can really shut the deck down hard.
Suggestions are very welcome!
1 Marchesa, the Black Rose
Artifacts (9)
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Dimir Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Indulgence
Creatures (47)
1 Anger
1 Aura Thief
1 Baleful Strix
1 Burnished Hart
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Chasm Skulker
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Cytoplast Manipulator
1 Dack's Duplicate
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Feldon of the Third Path
1 Flayer of the Hatebound
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Fleshwrither
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Legion Loyalist
1 Márton Stromgald
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Mulldrifter
1 Necroplasm
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Pain Seer
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 River Kelpie
1 Sage of Fables
1 Sage of Hours
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Scourge of the Throne
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Viscera Seer
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Sneak Attack
1 Unspeakable Symbol
1 Fervor
1 Rhystic Study
Instants (1)
1 Clutch of the Undercity
Sorceries (2)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Living Death
Lands (36)
1 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 High Market
3 Island
1 Mana Confluence
4 Mountain
1 Opal Palace
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Shivan Reef
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Sunken Hollow
4 Swamp
1 Tainted Isle
1 Tainted Peak
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Underground River
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Watery Grave
Some things I don't see in your list but I personally like having in mine are High Market, Solemn Simulacrum, Phantasmal Image, Baleful Strix, Demonic Tutor, Mulldrifter, Chasm Skulker, Tuktuk Scrapper and Necroplasm (a lot of token decks in my meta).
Disciple of Griselbrand; I don't really like non-free sac outlets and gaining life could put you on the throne.
The only thing Taurean Mauler can do is grow into a large beater, but then everything in the deck is about having stuff die and recurring it, which kinda defeats the purpose of this card.
I would personally cut some of the non-creature cards; not because they're bad cards but simply because we want as many creatures as possible.
If you're into thievery, put Sower of Temptation on the wish list as well! Could be a replacement for Dragonlord Silumgar
Drana, Liberator of Malakir is awesome!
Also, i've put in a Sword of the Animist to try out. It's nice but i'm still in doubt since it doesn't really synergize with the rest of the list; any thoughts on that one?
I agree on the adding counters, especially Forbid seems like an excellent fit for the deck. Mass removal is kinda already in the deck in the form of Curse of the swine, Cyclonic rift, Evacuation and even Capsize when having lots of mana. The advantage of bounce is that with the amount of mana available, most of the time you can recast everything in one turn again.
The deck has its main focus on card draw instead of large creatures or swarms of tokens (although it has those too). I'm not sure if that is the most competitive route but imo its the most fun one! Also, with a load of mana and a 30 card hand, you can handle almost any situation.
Like most kruphix decks, the deck starts out pretty straight forward:
- Ramp a bit
- Put down Kruphix, god of horizons
- Put down Prophet of kruphix, Seedborn muse or Awakening
- Wait until it's your turn again and cast something big, like an X=30 Braingeyser
I'm currently still trying to find the best balance between ramp, draw, interact and threats since the deck needs all those aspects to win and therefore sometimes just tends to durdle around and do nothing. So any advice is very welcome!
However, some restrictions apply;
*I try to keep it a bit on a budget, like my other decks it is between $100 and $200
*Does not involve an infinite combo, which are frowned upon in my playgroup and I personally don't like to play
5 Kruphix, god of horizons
Artifacts (5)
1 Sol Ring
1 Ivory tower
2 Doubling cube
5 Mind's eye
5 Mirari
Creatures (18)
2 Mindshrieker
2 Kiora's follower
3 Nylea, god of the hunt
3 Yavimaya elder
3 Eternal witness
3 Chasm skulker
3 Fierce empath
3 Trinket mage
3 Laboratory maniac
5 Prophet of kruphix
5 Overbeing of myth
5 Seedborn muse
5 Psychosis crawler
6 Progenitor mimic
6 Hydra broodmaster
8 Terastodon
9 Artisan of kozilek
10 Jin-gitaxias, core augur
1 Exploration
3 Rhystic study
3 Propaganda
4 Awakening
6 Mana reflection
Instants (11)
1 Noxious revival
1 Worldly tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Mystical tutor
2 Reality shift
2 Cyclonic rift
3 Capsize
3 Blue sun's zenith
3 Stroke of genius
4 Turnabout
5 Evacuation
Sorceries (22)
1 Green sun's zenith
1 Gelatinous genesis
1 Ponder
1 Stream of life
2 Farseek
2 Regrowth
2 Merchant scroll
2 Mind spring
2 Nature's lore
2 Curse of the swine
2 Braingeyser
3 Untamed wilds
3 Cultivate
3 Kodama's reach
4 Skyshroud claim
4 Tempt with discovery
4 Rite of replication
5 Urban evolution
6 Recurring insight
6 Spitting image
7 Blatant thievery
9 Tooth and nail
15 Forest
14 Island
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Reliquary tower
1 Hinterland harbor
1 Halimar depths
1 Breeding pool
1 Command tower
1 Yavimaya coast
Then my upkeer begins with me having to sac 1 permanent for each Smokestack in play. I sacced Reality Acid for the first Smokestack-trigger in order to get rid of the other smokestack with Acid attached to it, thus not having to sac another permanent. The other players, however, told me the second smokestack trigger was already on the stack.. I went ahead with them but I'm still in doubt of how this works.. Anyone?
I found Vanishing by far the best way to keep Brago alive, with 2 blue mana open there is just no way to get rid of him. Especially since all aura's and equipments attached to him phase out with Brago.
I'm considering adding Hive Mind. It doesn't synergize with Brago, but since I run almost no instants/sorceries it would make things a lot harder for opponents than it does for me. Any thoughts on this?
I see you're considering Mystic Remora; you should definitely run it! It once gained me 7 cards in one round of turns of a 5 player commander game. I really don't know why this card sees so little play in any deck that runs blue..
I also played a few counterspells, but ended up only using them for protecting brago. Therefore I switched them for more protection such as lightning Greaves, Gift of Immortality, etc.
Vanishing is imo one of the best ways of protecting your commander; it makes him practically invincible! You should really consider that one.. Alternatively you can use it to lock other commanders out of the game
Exclusion Ritual is just unfair when consistently blinking it.
Giving Brago doublestrike lets you blink everything twice, Silverblade paladin might be a nice addition.
I really like Tezzeret the Seeker; lets you tutor up two artifact a turn (if you blink it with Brago).
I agree that a card such as Attended Knight isn't that great, but casting a Myr Battlesphere and blinking it in the same turn gets you 8 tokens which poses a real threat. However, although Knight-Captain of Eos provides his own sac outlet, adding a Skullclamp seems like an excellent idea!
- Concerning Raven Familiar, doesn't blinking him requires you to pay the echo cost over and over? Not sure about that though..
- Since almost all my enchantments cost three or less, Sun Titan makes Auramancer feel kinda less useful.
- Mana isn't really a problem with the manarocks I run so I chose to leave out Kor Cartographer; Solemn Simulacrum should be enough.
I like all the other suggestions, will look into them! Especially Resolute Archangel, since many players in my meta are running the very lame Sorin Markov..
*Is on a budget, preferably below / around $100,-
*Does not involve an infinite combo, which we don't allow in our playgroup
*Is fun to play; for me meaning interactive
*Has a chance of winning from time to time within my meta consisting of rather expensive decks, because what's more fun than defeating a $1000+ deck with a pile of craprares
The deck thus far is good at controlling multiple opponents and is quite competitive, at least in my meta. The biggest downside of the deck is the dependency of Brago, King Eternal, which without him doesn't function really. That's why there is a lot of cards in the deck that protect my general, as well as some counters for dealing with ***-type spells (which are heavily played in my meta).
4 Brago, King Eternal
Artifacts (17)
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Meekstone
2 Prophetic Prism
2 Strionic Resonator
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Azorius Signet
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Chromatic Lantern
3 Azorius Cluestone
3 Azorius Keyrune
3 Basalt Monolith
3 Manalith
5 Gilded Lotus
5 Conjurer's Closet
7 Spine of Ish Sah
Creatures (23)
1 Soul Warden
1 Mother of Runes
2 Wall of Omens
3 Trinket Mage
3 Drogskol Captain
3 Silverblade Paladin
3 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 Clone
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Stonehorn Dignitary
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Nevermaker
5 Geist-Honored Monk
5 Mulldrifter
5 Knight-Captain of Eos
5 Body Double
6 Duplicant
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Sun Titan
6 Sunblast Angel
7 Phyrexian Ingester
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Boonweaver Giant
1 Mystic Remora
1 Vanishing
2 Rest in Peace
2 Spirit Mantle
3 Act of Authority
3 Arrest
3 Steel of the Godhead
3 Reality Acid
3 Unquestioned Authority
3 Gift of Immortality
3 Rhystic Study
4 Control Magic
5 Treachery
6 Exclusion Ritual
6 Hive Mind
8 Decree of Silence
8 Eldrazi Conscription
Instants (2)
1 Enlightened Tutor
3 Ghostway
Sorceries (1)
4 Divine Reckoning
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Jace Beleren
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
5 Venser, the Sojourner
Lands (36)
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Ancient Den
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 City of Brass
1 Coastal Tower
1 Command Tower
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Flood Plain
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
9 Island
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Nimbus Maze
7 Plains
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
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Wanted List:
Any advice is always welcome!!
2) Seems like a nice card, expensive, but also able to protect himself with his ability. Considering him for my Brago, King Eternal deck.
3) Used Djinn Illuminatus for some time since he looked good to me in theory, but in practice he wasn't really that useful since it requires a lot of mana to cast him and make him useful in the same turn by replicating a bunch of spells. After that he barely ever lasted for another turn. Personally found Galvanoth and Charmbreaker Devils a lot more useful at the top of the curve, but that is of course deck-specific.
4) No experience with this guy.
5) I'm not a fan of (sorcery speed) pay a lot, draw cards. They feel like a bad deal if you only draw two or three cards with them, and drawing, say, four cards, there are better alternatives such as Opportunity (also, instant speed).