I have written a series of articles (Pursuit of Knowledge series) on edhrec.com based on EDH gameplay data and while writing the articles, I created a series of tools to help with content creation. I figured these tools would be valuable for deckbuilders at large, so I decided to create a web site for others to use. Check it out: edhgameplay.com
I have tried to play various builds of Aurelia in the past, after I read an article on Daily MTG about this commander. However, I found all of these decks not to be very effective because they relied on expensive spells. It was very difficult to build a good enough board presence using this deck. I see that your deck's mana curve is much smaller and am now really looking forward testing this out. I'd like to thank you for your deck list and all the supporting documentation (really impressive!).
I really liked the design of your Voltron deck. I have been trying to find deck ideas around my Breed Lethality commander deck and I have mostly focused on Atraxa (I went as far as removing Ishai from the deck all together!). But I really like the idea of focusing on the Partnet mechanic and building protection around Ishai.
Some comments on the deck:
At first, I did not quite understand why Attrition was in this deck. I was looking everywhere for token generator of some kind, but could not find any, until I figured out that Blade of Selves would create copies of the commander that could be sacrificed... Quite clever...
One of the strong win conditions of this deck seems to be able to get the Blade of Selves on the battlefield. There seems to be enough tutors (I think adding Sunforge Mystic was a good addition), but what if this equipment is destroyed or exiled?
I am not sure I like the inclusion of Greater Good. I'd probably need to play this deck some times before I can figure out if it is worthy. You need to sacrifice a card with power of at least 3 to get some card advantage. Wondering if it would not be better to have a card like Sphinx's Revelation or Perilous Forays instead.
I am not sure there is enough recursion in the deck.
I will definitely test this deck in my local playgroup. Thanks for your efforts publishing the deck and the different improvements you have made these last few weeks.
Introduction
I was really excited with the release of the Commander 2016 products. One of my friends had already bought the Invent Superiority and Entropic Uprising decks, which seemed like fun to play. I was looking for one of the others to allow us to make some kind of Commander 2016 friendly event. I sensed a buzz around the Breed Lethality deck, so picked this one up out of the remaining three. I did not get a good first impression browsing the deck list. It seemed a bit boring with a focus mainly on +1/+1 counters and it did not have many tools to help with imminent or overwhelming threats. At first, I did not quite understand the power of some of the cards like Astral Cornucopia. However, getting it out early in my first game with Atraxa on the battlefield, I quickly realized how important it could be. Turned out that my opponents also came to that realization early and it got removed before I could make much use of it. From that point, I felt pretty much stranded... The mana would not come easy and I could not play any of my cards in hand. After my first evening playing the deck, I tried to look on the net for upgrade ideas... Unfortunately, most of the decks I could find centered around the Super Friends or Infect meta... But going that way meant pretty much start the deck from scratch and I did not like this idea. My goal for this deck build was more on how to upgrade its core.
I kept some ideas here and there and created something different. It is hard to say if this build is as effective as the Super Friends or Infect versions, but I found it fun to play. I did not focus as much on combos as trying to find answers for most of the problematic situations. Some of the stars of this deck are:
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice: This card rocks! It does it all: Evasion, excellent blocker, life gain... and proliferate. It strengthens most of the tools in this deck, whether you want to buff creatures, weaken your opponents' creatures, get more creature tokens, get more combat damage-free rounds, or anything else you could do with a +1/+1, loyalty, charge, fade or divinity counter...
Fertilid with Atraxa is insane for ramping up the mana.
Mirrorweave on one of your 0/0 creature to wipe all of your opponents' creatures, whether they be indestructible or not.
I have seen players replace Custodi Soulbinds with Chasm Skulker, and although you may be able to get more tokens at lesser cost, I am not sure it is such an improvement. Custody Soulbinders in a multi-player game comes on board with lots of +1/+1 tokens, an excellent blocker on board and potentially a big offensive threat. And as time goes, you have the ability to generate some fliers that could be buffed with cards like Gavony Township.
I have preferred Mystical Teachings over Mystical Tutor to access instant and sorcery spells in my deck at instant speed, and as a bonus, twice instead of only once.
Martin
Martin
Martin
I really liked the design of your Voltron deck. I have been trying to find deck ideas around my Breed Lethality commander deck and I have mostly focused on Atraxa (I went as far as removing Ishai from the deck all together!). But I really like the idea of focusing on the Partnet mechanic and building protection around Ishai.
Some comments on the deck:
I will definitely test this deck in my local playgroup. Thanks for your efforts publishing the deck and the different improvements you have made these last few weeks.
Martin
I was really excited with the release of the Commander 2016 products. One of my friends had already bought the Invent Superiority and Entropic Uprising decks, which seemed like fun to play. I was looking for one of the others to allow us to make some kind of Commander 2016 friendly event. I sensed a buzz around the Breed Lethality deck, so picked this one up out of the remaining three. I did not get a good first impression browsing the deck list. It seemed a bit boring with a focus mainly on +1/+1 counters and it did not have many tools to help with imminent or overwhelming threats. At first, I did not quite understand the power of some of the cards like Astral Cornucopia. However, getting it out early in my first game with Atraxa on the battlefield, I quickly realized how important it could be. Turned out that my opponents also came to that realization early and it got removed before I could make much use of it. From that point, I felt pretty much stranded... The mana would not come easy and I could not play any of my cards in hand. After my first evening playing the deck, I tried to look on the net for upgrade ideas... Unfortunately, most of the decks I could find centered around the Super Friends or Infect meta... But going that way meant pretty much start the deck from scratch and I did not like this idea. My goal for this deck build was more on how to upgrade its core.
I kept some ideas here and there and created something different. It is hard to say if this build is as effective as the Super Friends or Infect versions, but I found it fun to play. I did not focus as much on combos as trying to find answers for most of the problematic situations. Some of the stars of this deck are:
I have seen players replace Custodi Soulbinds with Chasm Skulker, and although you may be able to get more tokens at lesser cost, I am not sure it is such an improvement. Custody Soulbinders in a multi-player game comes on board with lots of +1/+1 tokens, an excellent blocker on board and potentially a big offensive threat. And as time goes, you have the ability to generate some fliers that could be buffed with cards like Gavony Township.
I have preferred Mystical Teachings over Mystical Tutor to access instant and sorcery spells in my deck at instant speed, and as a bonus, twice instead of only once.
Deck list by function:
1 Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
Mana Ramp:
1 Fertilid
1 Astral Cornucopia
1 Expedition Map
1 Sol Ring
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Coalition Relic
1 Mirari's Wake
Buffing:
1 Gavony Township
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Thrummingbird
1 Hardened Scales
1 Citadel Siege
1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
1 Bloodspore Thrinax
1 Corpsejack Menace
1 Forgotten Ancient
1 Master Biomancer
1 Cathars' Crusade
1 Deepglow Skate
1 Doubling Season
1 Ghave, Guru of Spores
1 Inexorable Tide
Evasion:
1 Abzan Falconer
1 Champion of Lambholt
1 Custodi Soulbinders
1 Tuskguard Captain
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Arachnogenesis
1 Inspiring Call
1 Spike Weaver
Disruption:
1 Strip Mine
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Pact of Negation
1 Retribution of the Ancient
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Mana Drain
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Aura Shards
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Vindicate
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Mirrorweave
1 Cauldron of Souls
1 Sylvan Reclamation
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Contagion Engine
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Duneblast
1 Woodfall Primus
Tutors:
1 Tolaria West
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Chord of Calling
1 Mystical Teachings
Card Draw:
1 Bred for the Hunt
1 Zameck Guildmage
1 Fathom Mage
1 Tezzeret's Gambit
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Academy Ruins
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reveillark
Non-utility Land:
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Exotic Orchard
4 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Opulent Palace
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Plains
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Sungrass Prairie
2 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Temple of the False God
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
Deck by card type:
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thrummingbird
1 Zameck Guildmage
1 Abzan Falconer
1 Champion of Lambholt
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fertilid
1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
1 Tuskguard Captain
1 Vorel of the Hull Clade
1 Bloodspore Thrinax
1 Custodi Soulbinders
1 Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
1 Corpsejack Menace
1 Fathom Mage
1 Forgotten Ancient
1 Glen Elandra, Archmage
1 Master Biomancer
1 Spike Weaver
1 Deepglow Skate
1 Ghave, Guru of Spores
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Reveillark
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Astral Cornucopia
1 Pact of Negation
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Expedition Map
1 Hardened Scales
1 Retribution of the Ancient
1 Sol Ring
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Bred for the Hunt
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mana Drain
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Arachnogenesis
1 Aura Shards
1 Chord of Calling
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Coalition Relic
1 Inspiring Call
1 Vindicate
1 Citadel Siege
1 Mirrorweave
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Tezzeret’s Gambit
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Cathars’ Crusade
1 Cauldron of Souls
1 Doubling Season
1 Inexorable Tide
1 Mirari’s Wake
1 Sylvan Reclamation
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Contagion Engine
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Duneblast
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Exotic Orchard
4 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Murmuring Bosk
1 Opulent Palace
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Plains
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Strip Mine
1 Sungrass Prairie
2 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tolaria West
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Yavimaya Hollow