Hey there people of mtgsalvation! Anyone who's seen my posts on this site knows that I love everything Phyrexian so you could imagine my excitement when we got a janky, new Phyrexian in the commander 2018 set (at least they got something right.) I knew I had to brew him the second I saw what he does and it's been very fun. My first thought, like everyone's, was to get a whole ton of tokens and turn them all into Blightsteels or Tidespouts and just have an army of big dudes but I found out very quickly that wouldn't work out how I want it to. I switched my "win creatures" to smaller, more affordable dudes and I found things were smoother but still clunky which led me to cutting cards like God-Pharaoh's Gift and Feldon of the Third Path in favor of cards like Fated Infatuation and Twinflame. This has been the best the deck has functioned since it's inception but it still has it's problems. I need better sources of draw, I'm unable to close out games without a lot of tokens and Brudiclad's CMC being as high as it is means that I have a limited number of casts on him before I outright lose. A friend of mine commented on the list saying that it is too reliant on Brudiclad and as such will not hold up once I can't get my commander to the field. He also points out that the deck should really have a goal of winning with just 2-3 tokens on the board since in most cases it is unrealistic to assume I'll have more. So with the history of the list out of the way I'll leave it to you all and hope that you can provide me with any kind of insight as to where I should be taking this next. Thank you for your time!
Hey there people of MTGSalvation! So after months of hard work on my Etali EDH deck I finally hit that purchase button and I now own the full deck! This should be an exciting thing for me... but in the wake of Core 2019 and the release of a certain Elder Dragon my joy has turned back to contemplation. Vaevictus Asmadi the Dire has my three favorite colors, plays a similar game to Etali and allows me to pursue a sort of lands matter sub theme (which has come up before in my Dune Brood Nephilim deck). I'm now considering going back to the drawing boards entirely and turning my brand new Etali deck into a Vaevictus deck. The way I see it, each commander has it's advantages and disadvantages.
Etali Advantages
Casts spells
Capable of effectively using mana doublers
Takes from everybody at the table
Elder Dinosaur
Vaevictus Asmadi
Jund colors - access to more cards
Commander acts as removal but can set my opponent's up too
Loses mana doublers but gains access to green's ramp
Elder Dragon
Better Name
Etali casting things off the top is incredibly important to my current list. I use it to cast MLD and Eldrazi spells to gain as much power as I can from it. That being said Vaevictus' colors may just be strong enough to warrant not casting things off the top since he has access to more powerful cards in general. Above all of this I can't stop considering the fact that Etali still has a spot in this deck which means my love for him doesn't have to die entirely.
Anyways, I feel like I'm beginning to rant now. With that, what do you all think of this dilemma? Should I make my switch to Vaevictus or do you all think Etali works fine independent of other colors? Please let me know, thank you and have a nice day!
Wow thank you guys very much for all of the suggestions! EbonRose, that certainly was so much more than I expected but exactly what I wanted. Fantastic piece. I have a lot to think about and I am super looking forward to seeing what I can do with the given information. The mana curve for this deck is gonna be out of this world though... You are right when you say that thing weren't always so mechanically sound but I've gotta work with what I can for at least the next year. I look forward to any additional information you have to offer! I am very excited to see what I can do with this deck with all these ideas stirring in my head. Anticipating future responses!!
Budget is no issue, you go ahead and rattle off all the old expensive cards you want! Back to the deck, I briefly mentioned this in the original post but this deck is actually based off of Vorthos Mike's work. Honestly the points you make about Tanglewalker, Caged Sun etc. are perfectly valid and are the first places I would look when making cuts (especially if I'm cutting for a card like Birthing Pod like damn why isn't that there?) I will say I do love shattered angel in the deck if only because Phyrexian angels are just so beautiful. I would love to fit the other praetors in the deck but getting them there makes the deck feel very clunky outside of a reanimator theme. Lashwrithe and Nightmare Lash look like they would be great picks (especially that living weapon!) and I think Grafted Exoskeleton would make a great fit here. I'll definitely pull out those cards you mention and we'll see what kind of work space we have for the deck. You really seem to have some passion for the mtg story I very much appreciate the help and I have high hopes of getting this deck to a point where it's playable!
I mean honestly New Phyrexia is my love in life but I'm totally good to go back to the Invasion block and early Phyrexia (after all invasion is what they do best.) I know about Rath but a lot less about the cards from it. Anything Phyrexia is a friend of me though. I appreciate you digging around for some good cards! I don't know how I managed to forget No Mercy. I love that card way too much to forget. Let me know what you've got whenever you're free! I'd also love to see your Marchesa deck if you still have a list!
Hey people of mtgsalvation!
So I've been itching to buy a new commander deck but the slave to phyrexia in me isn't letting me look at too many legendary creatures. I've tried building Ezuri but he always ends up being more simic goodstuff or elfball than I'd like. The Praetors all seem a little too weak to be the commanders of a deck with the exception of Vorinclex, Skittles and Sheoldred but I'm desperately trying to branch out from black. Our playgroup already has a Glissa player otherwise I would've built her in a heartbeat. We also have an Atraxa superfriends player but I feel like if I can make a Vorthos Atraxa infect deck that would be alright by the group's standards. I found an old article by Vorthos Mike on a compleated commander deck and I would love some input from others on how to bring it up to 75% (or hell even 60%). Please let me know what kind of changes you think can be made to make this deck a little more viable!
Well part of the stupid idea is to go at the deck design a la manaless dredge. The obvious problem with that strategy is the fact that I'm not in sultai colors.
Hey mtgsalvation. So I (like everyone who plays edh right now) have been trying to build decks around the numerous new legendary creatures coming out in the set. While Muldrotha, the Gravetide speaks to me, I'm more interested in trying to break Garna, the Bloodflame. Seeing that "from anywhere" in their text makes me think that something HAS to be able to completely break this ability. Now while a lot of people are talking about using Sneak Attack or similar cheats to take advantage of this ability, my first thought landed elsewhere.
In a landless deck...
Balustrade Spy will let me put my entire deck into the graveyard effectively tutoring for all of my creatures at once with Garna's ability.
Now that I have all of my creatures in hand and I'm 9 (landless) mana down from the Balustrade/Garna combo... I don't know. The only other wincon I know I have with landless is Goblin Charbelcher but unfortunately it does not return to my hand with Garna's abiltiy. I know this is out of traditional colors for manaless dredge type decks but I think something can be done with this type of shell and a lot of pretty pricey rocks.
I'm now bringing this stupid idea to the mtgsalvation community to see if you all can help this Johnny create the most absurd edh combo deck in Dominaria.
And no please don't suggest Atraxa. Don't get me wrong, I love Atraxa. She's a dope ass card and as someone who loves the **** out of phyrexia's lore (and owns a copy of Atraxa) I'd love to build her. That being said I can't build her for two reasons: 1) She's HELLA overused 2) someone in my playgroup already has Atraxa superfriends. Ok so I COULD build her but the reasons present are enough to deter me. Do any of you have a commander you dig for Superfriends outside of Atraxa? I considered Sen Triplets and Narset but I'm still unsure as to what I want to do. Alternatively if someone feels they can offer something unique enough to warrant building Atraxa then I'd love to hear it. Anyways thank you all very much for the offers and suggestions.
Holy ***** I forgot about Library of Leng's synergy with looting effects. I considered wheels in the preliminary stages of deck building but they didn't do too much of what I liked. This seems VERY promising and dammit now I'm gonna have to figure out how to get a looting package into this deck. Thank you for your words!!
I managed to nab a copy of Gauntlet of Might from an Ebay auction so I plan on assembling this deck soon. Let me know if there are any good cuts/additions you all would make! The only blatant cut in that I wish I could cram in is Blightsteel Colossus but after the dragons I had a hard time finding a good place for him. My only concerns with the deck right now is lack of late game steam (in gold fishing the deck hitting a land feels REAL bad) and I'm considering dropping the haste enabling lands barring Hall of the Bandit Lord. Let me hear what you guys think of this guy!
1x Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
Land (36)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Arch of Orazca
1x Command Beacon
1x Command Tower
1x Great Furnace
1x Inventors' Fair
11x Island
1x Izzet Boilerworks
1x Kher Keep
1x Mirrorpool
8x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Seat of the Synod
1x Shivan Reef
1x Steam Vents
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Temple of Epiphany
Removal (13)
1x Baral's Expertise
1x Chaos Warp
1x Counterflux
1x Counterspell
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Disallow
1x Insidious Will
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Nevermaker
1x Redirect
1x Rewind
1x Spell Swindle
1x Trickbind
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Swiftfoot Boots
Tutor (1)
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
Creature Copy (15)
1x Arcane Artisan
1x Cackling Counterpart
1x Dance of Many
1x Faerie Artisans
1x Fated Infatuation
1x Flameshadow Conjuring
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Mechanized Production
1x Mimic Vat
1x Mirrorpool
1x Rite of Replication
1x Saheeli Rai
1x Stolen Identity
1x Twinflame
1x Vizier of Many Faces
Ramp (13)
1x Brass's Bounty
1x Coalition Relic
1x Emrakul's Hatcher
1x Izzet Signet
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Pirate's Pillage
1x Rapacious One
1x Sol Ring
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
1x Worn Powerstone
Win Token (7)
1x Broodbirth Viper
1x Combat Celebrant
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Karn, Scion of Urza
1x Nevermaker
1x Viral Drake
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Ancient Stone Idol
1x Brass's Bounty
1x Chancellor of the Forge
1x Dragon Fodder
1x Emrakul's Hatcher
1x Hordeling Outburst
1x Kher Keep
1x Krenko's Command
1x Molten Birth
1x Pirate's Pillage
1x Rapacious One
1x Spell Swindle
1x Tempt with Vengeance
1x Young Pyromancer
Draw (11)
1x Arch of Orazca
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Dig Through Time
1x Karn, Scion of Urza
1x Mind Spring
1x Pirate's Pillage
1x Rhystic Study
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Treasure Cruise
1x Windfall
Utility (2)
1x Leyline of Anticipation
1x Vedalken Orrery
Etali Advantages
Vaevictus Asmadi
Etali casting things off the top is incredibly important to my current list. I use it to cast MLD and Eldrazi spells to gain as much power as I can from it. That being said Vaevictus' colors may just be strong enough to warrant not casting things off the top since he has access to more powerful cards in general. Above all of this I can't stop considering the fact that Etali still has a spot in this deck which means my love for him doesn't have to die entirely.
Anyways, I feel like I'm beginning to rant now. With that, what do you all think of this dilemma? Should I make my switch to Vaevictus or do you all think Etali works fine independent of other colors? Please let me know, thank you and have a nice day!
So I've been itching to buy a new commander deck but the slave to phyrexia in me isn't letting me look at too many legendary creatures. I've tried building Ezuri but he always ends up being more simic goodstuff or elfball than I'd like. The Praetors all seem a little too weak to be the commanders of a deck with the exception of Vorinclex, Skittles and Sheoldred but I'm desperately trying to branch out from black. Our playgroup already has a Glissa player otherwise I would've built her in a heartbeat. We also have an Atraxa superfriends player but I feel like if I can make a Vorthos Atraxa infect deck that would be alright by the group's standards. I found an old article by Vorthos Mike on a compleated commander deck and I would love some input from others on how to bring it up to 75% (or hell even 60%). Please let me know what kind of changes you think can be made to make this deck a little more viable!
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/infect-cmdr/
Thank you!
Dune-Brood Nephilim
1x Blood Crypt
1x Canopy Vista
1x Canyon Slough
1x Cinder Glade
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Exotic Orchard
9x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
1x Jungle Shrine
1x Mana Confluence
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
2x Plains
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rogue's Passage
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Savage Lands
1x Scattered Groves
1x Sheltered Thicket
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Stomping Ground
1x Strip Mine
1x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Huatli, Radiant Champion
1x Nissa, Vital Force
Creature
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Eternal Witness
1x Grand Warlord Radha
1x Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
1x Rampaging Baloths
1x Ramunap Excavator
1x Sadistic Hypnotist
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Seedguide Ash
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Sylvan Safekeeper
1x The Gitrog Monster
Instant
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Artifact Mutation
1x Beast Within
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Krosan Grip
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Return to Dust
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Utter End
1x Birthing Pod
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
Enchantment
1x Anointed Procession
1x Aura Shards
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Burgeoning
1x Cathars' Crusade
1x Druids' Repository
1x Evolutionary Leap
1x Fecundity
1x Glare of Subdual
1x Goblin Bombardment
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Mirari's Wake
1x Parallel Lives
1x Shared Animosity
Sorcery
1x Collective Unconscious
1x Cultivate
1x Farseek
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Overrun
1x Shamanic Revelation
1x Skyshroud Claim
Can I get some quick help with this deck! I'd like to pick up the rest of it before the TCGPlayer kickback ends today! Thank you!
In a landless deck...
Balustrade Spy will let me put my entire deck into the graveyard effectively tutoring for all of my creatures at once with Garna's ability.
Now that I have all of my creatures in hand and I'm 9 (landless) mana down from the Balustrade/Garna combo... I don't know. The only other wincon I know I have with landless is Goblin Charbelcher but unfortunately it does not return to my hand with Garna's abiltiy. I know this is out of traditional colors for manaless dredge type decks but I think something can be done with this type of shell and a lot of pretty pricey rocks.
I'm now bringing this stupid idea to the mtgsalvation community to see if you all can help this Johnny create the most absurd edh combo deck in Dominaria.
1x Caged Sun
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Explorer's Scope
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Fire Diamond
1x Gauntlet of Might
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Hedron Archive
1x Iron Myr
1x Mana Vault
1x Metalworker
1x Mind Stone
1x Palladium Myr
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Sol Ring
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Thran Dynamo
Etali Love (9)
1x Champion's Helm
1x Command Beacon
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Otepec Huntmaster
1x Strionic Resonator
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x The Immortal Sun
More Combat (7)
1x Aggravated Assault
1x Fury of the Horde
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Relentless Assault
1x Scourge of the Throne
1x Seize the Day
1x World at War
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Combustible Gearhulk
1x Emrakul, the Promised End
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Magmatic Force
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Utvara Hellkite
Land (35)
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Command Beacon
1x Flamekin Village
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Hanweir Battlements
1x Homeward Path
1x Madblind Mountain
26x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Rogue's Passage
Removal (8)
1x All Is Dust
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Chaos Warp
1x Magmatic Force
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1x Vandalblast
Topdeck Manipulation (4)
1x Crystal Ball
1x Explorer's Scope
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Dragonstorm
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Reverberate
Draw (10)
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Combustible Gearhulk
1x Hedron Archive
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Mind Stone
1x Mind's Eye
1x Sandstone Oracle
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x The Immortal Sun
Haste (9)
1x Fervor
1x Flamekin Village
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Hammer of Purphoros
1x Hanweir Battlements
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Otepec Huntmaster
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Urabrask the Hidden
Spell Ramp (6)
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Geosurge
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Mana Geyser
1x Neheb, the Eternal
1x Seething Song
I managed to nab a copy of Gauntlet of Might from an Ebay auction so I plan on assembling this deck soon. Let me know if there are any good cuts/additions you all would make! The only blatant cut in that I wish I could cram in is Blightsteel Colossus but after the dragons I had a hard time finding a good place for him. My only concerns with the deck right now is lack of late game steam (in gold fishing the deck hitting a land feels REAL bad) and I'm considering dropping the haste enabling lands barring Hall of the Bandit Lord. Let me hear what you guys think of this guy!