This list looks like its pulling from many different directions. To respond to thr OP, I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent, but the reason is to better frame my suggestions.
You titled this list a Stax list. Stax is short for Stacks, which is a vintage term for the original prison list $T4KS, which was named "The four thousand dollar solution" from which its abreviation originates from. Most people, especially on the commander threads mislabel griefer decks as Stacks lists, when in truth, they do not fulfill the ideology of a Stax list. Stax lists draw their roots from the O'Brien School of Magic, one of the earliest strategies of competitive Magic, whose proponents subscribed to the idea that if you could contain your opponent's resources, you could control create an unbreakable gamestate from which the opponent could never recover from.
Griefer decks annoy players because they play cards that fragment and slow down the lines of play that make games enjoyable. Stax lists are control decks that, instead of using countermagic to exert influence over opponents by controlling the stack, they exert their influence by generating permenant advantage to control the battlefield. For a deck to truly be a Stax deck, the deck has to generate advantage by breaking the symmetry on cards that help contain boardstates (many of which also have the effect of taxing the stack, to prevent plays that would change the gamestate you aim to sculpt. In a sense, griefer decks are the alpha apex predator that kills prey for sport or as a show of stregnth, where Stax decks are more akin to the boa constrictor that carefully and with calculation squeezes the life out of its prey in order to feed itself, because preassure is its primary way to hunt.
If you aim to build a stax deck, you deck slots must reflect this ideology, and more importantly, function to exert just as much preassure on the opponent. Trinket Mage may be there as a tutor, but if isn't the leanest, most efficient tutor for something that is going to put the game away, it doesnt belong in the deck. I would actullay advise against using planeswalkers: they make for great win cons but terrible board control permenants. With that in mind, the majority of the spells in your deck should aim to control the board, while your win conditions should be as sleek and efficient as possible, synergistic with the board control strategy, and be as compact as possible.
Darrenhabib gave a great run-down of cards that help lockdown boardstates so you gain gain control of them. While mana advantage is the primary route one can use to control the board, it isnt the only one that has to be put in check. Also, in a perfect world, your opponents will have access to the same mana sources that you will, and just as many (if not more) reasons to utilize them.
Additionally, as the Commander rules help serve to both contain and homogenize mana sources to even the pace and stregth of mana development across all commander colors combinations and power levels, the inability to run multiple Sol Lands, coupled with your opponents' ability to run optimized manabases similar to yours, are additional handicaps this strategy needs to overcome. As such, you should scrutinize you mana sources very carefully, as a solid and carefully constructed mana base is paramount to the success of this strategy, much more than almost any other in Magic, and especially commander.
The benefit to jumping through all these hoops, is that you can apply immense preassure over the game, BECAUSE EACH OPPONENT WILL BE STRUGGLING TO BREAK FREE OF THE GAMESTATE YOU ARE CRAFTING. Many pages have been written about how the rules of 1v1 card advantage are warped and bastardized when applied to multi-player games. However, when playing prison, because the prison effects are symmetrical, when the opponent who is "most ahead" is still playing from behind, you are winning. The "come from behind" play has to be sculpted, and ideally will take many turns to formulate, so it can be hedged off before it is too late.
I hope this helps guide your decisions. Once I can see the direction you list is trying to take, I can make better suggestions on your card choices.
- MtgKiwi
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Jostin123 posted a message on Breya, Etherium Staxer. [Needs help]Posted in: Multiplayer Commander Decklists -
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WeezingPipes posted a message on Most overhyped card in BFZ and most underrated card?Posted in: Standard ArchivesQuote from alphagprime »When I checked TCGPlayer prices I was blown away to find Drana and Undergrowth Champion going for so much. I'd say those are on my over rated list.
For under rated cards I'd say Planar Outburst, Scatter to the Winds, and Horribly Awry. Scatter is Cancel, which is acceptable. Think about it this way: How many threats/creatures does control typically run? Like 6? How many versions of Cancel might it run? Like 3-4? Now control is running like 9 creatures and didn't cut any counter spells? Come on now. Couple that up with Planar Outburst and now those 2-3 sweepers are creatures too? So now control is packing 12 creatures and hasn't diluted their control options at all. That's powerful. Control thrives on options and they've just gained 6 new ones.
Horribly Awry is my honorable mention here because I'm not sure how good its going to be in standard but I definitely see it having a place in Modern. There are only two or three competitive decks that run cards that Awry can't hit. Heck, it hits the entirety of Infect, Burn, and Affinity. It hits everything in Grixis except Tasigur and Gurmag. The exile clause slows down Delve and Snapcaster. Against most modern decks it hits every card in your opponent's deck except maybe 3-4 cards with Tron being the notable exception. IMO, pick up your copies now because this is the Counterspell replacement Modern has been waiting for because we all know we aren't going to get the actual Counterspell. If blue based control decks exist they will be running Horribly Awry. It just does too much work against too much of modern to not see play.
Essence Scatter is in the format and sees 0 play in modern, and hits any creature. Not sure how a 2 mana Dissipate some creatures would see play when this does not. -
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FTW1987 posted a message on Frank Karsten's Mono White Quest Budget ChallengeThis was powerful in Standard for several reasons:Posted in: Budget (Modern)
1) Stoneforge Mystic.
When Standard gets cards that are banned in Modern, deck does good things.
2) No Path to Exile or Lightning Bolt, making it harder to kill the turn 2 Argentum dork
3) Format was Standard. Nuff said.
Here is an attempt to make this pile playable in budget mono W Modern:
DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards //Creatures: 27
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Glint Hawk
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben//Spells: 10
4 Quest for the Holy Relic
3 Steelshaper's Gift
3 Dispatch
//Equipment: 3
2 Argentum Armor
1 Cranial Plating
//Mana: 20
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Darksteel Citadel
12 Plains//Sideboard:
3 Cranial Plating
3 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Dispatch
3 Tempered Steel
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Etched Champion
Idea came from the above post about Swords. You need some kind of back-up equipment plan (e.g. Swords) for the deck to do anything. But Swords are too expensive/slow. What's even more powerful? Plating. So back-up plan of quasi-Affinity. -
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S0meLegacyUser posted a message on Frank Karsten's Mono White Quest Budget ChallengeWhen this was viable (because stoneforge) it was necessary to mulligan extremely aggressively. I would frequently go to five, and not infrequently would go to four. Some of why this was viable was because of how powerful swords were compared to the relatively limited card pool of standard legal cards (modern is a bigger card pool, this won't be as true there). Argentum armor's power is still pretty much the same; get it online by turn two and you win. It was for that effect that I would so aggressively mulligan, and because of the swords (playable off of stoneforge) that I was able to recover from such aggressive digging.Posted in: Budget (Modern)
Puresteel paladin and/or kor outfitter serve as useful back-ups when armor falls off.
You could try steelshaper's gift instead of stoneforge. The total cost of getting a sword on the board would be the same, but it'd be sorcery speed and broken up into inconvenient increments (1, 3, 2 instead of the much more convenient 2, 2, 2). - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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4 Marsh Flats
4 Contested War Zone
11 Plains
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Glint Hawk
4 Signal Pest
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Accorder Paladin
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Squadron Hawk
4 Quest for the holy relic
2 Argentum Armor
2 Jinxed Idol
4 Kor Firewalker
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Squadron Hawk
3 Refraction Trap
Right hand side is Sideboard.
Also I would like to know some new inclusions that should be added to the deck. My original thought would be -1 Accorder Paladin +1 Anafenza Kin-Tree Spirit. Let me know your thoughts.
Here is the link for the deck tech.
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptpar11/videodecktech5