- Put Homeward Path into most of your decks. I see he has two blue based theft commanders so homeward will counter him fairly well. Obviously he can Strip Mine it / whatever but it should at least help.
- Graveyard hate will hurt Wrexial. Not running enough graveyard hate is a normal issue for a lot of casual metas.
- Consider effects to disable commanders like Pithing Needle, Arrest (type effects), Imprisoned in the Moon type effects.
Beyond those three tips, my biggest concerns with his lineups without knowing more is the combination of the two theft commanders and sisay's tutors. These three commanders though are all susceptible to Pithing Needle effects though. I really don't think there is any one commander that you "need" to run to counter these so much as a few type of effects I would consider running to counteract the strategies that this player enjoys. On the upside most of these effects are available to most every color. Just focus on some of these cards that slow him down or stop some of the tactics that he often uses and continue on playing whatever you like playing.
EDIT: if I were to pick a commander to specifically try to counter him I would probably pick a hexproof voltron commander given they bypass a lot of his theft control.
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All-Creature Decks (cue the dramatic music...Dun, dun, dun, dun-dun! Bom-bom bom-bom bom-bom...)
Alright, enough history. Fast-forward to today...now we have so many creatures with effects stapled on to them or abilities beyond simply being a creature, there are legitimate ways to do almost anything with a creature body. You can put together all-creature decks with tremendous value and card advantage. So, in the casual realm, it's possible to piece together a pretty synergistic, optimized deck with nothing but lands and creatures. This primer will cover four example concepts for this idea.
First, let's just put it to rest that somehow I think this is going to ever gain wide acceptance, or that it's going to play well against casual but competitive decks that use the whole of Magic for their playground. It isn't about to be used everywhere, and against some deck archetypes an all-creature deck will have its work cut out for it. By all means, keep your normal decks intact! At best, this archetype can be fun breaks from normal games, forcing you to play your best to make the most of what you do have. Responses at instant speed either require creatures with flash, or else some other creature that allows you to play something at instant speed. This second group of creatures is limited, but I will include them in key creature sections later on. But in the end, there are so many value creatures out there that you can still do quite a lot with two-for-one creatures.
With that disclaimer out of the way, now let's highlight what these decks do very well. First, they always have more bodies to throw out. With reasonable card drawing to re-stock your hand, you can quickly recover tempo from a sweeper. A properly built all-creature deck can often spring back from two sweepers in a single game. I have an all elementals tribal deck that often comes back from sweepers immediately with two to four creatures on the table, all from triggered abilities. I used to own a treefolk tribal that often brushed sweepers off, only losing a single creature, but often losing nothing. Secondly, a number of tribes have special mechanics devoted to them, introduced in Lorwyn, with creature lists that operate very synergistically within the tribe. Elementals, faeries, and treefolk all have varied and interesting mechanics that can produce some very different strategies. Finally, nothing stops a player from just picking their favorite creatures to jam together into a creature deck to cover all the mechanics desired. Indeed, many creatures have rocked tournament scenes, albeit interacting with spells instead of just creatures. These game-rockers will be covered in the History section. The General Strategies and Synergies section will cover Lorwyn specifically, notable creatures from the beginning of the game until now, and any other creature-friendly sets. The Decklists section will cover some offerings with descriptions of the types of layering one should be able to pull out of an all-creature deck to maximize the spell slots.
I hope you enjoy this guide and think seriously about making an all-creature deck if you haven't already done so.
History:
Alpha/Beta/Unlimited/Revised - During this early time of Magic, there were less options and few if any are used much anymore, creatures such as Shivan Dragon, Serra Angel, Mahamoti Djinn, Clone, and Vesuvan Doppelganger, Force of Nature, and Nightmare, or Lord of the Pit. Of those, only Clone is really still being used commonly, though the Vesuvan Doppelganger certainly had a checkered errata history and remains one of the best shapeshifters in the game. At $5 per copy online, Revised versions are still very affordable, too. Ironically, probably the most useful creature is the lowly Llanowar Elves as a still-very-useful mana accelerator. Royal Assassin and Nettling Imp made for a nice creature removal mechanic even way back then.
Arabian Nights - The expansion set that unleashed the Juzam Djinn and Serendib Efreet as the first dominant Vintage beatdown deck creatures in conjunction with Moxen, and Black Lotus, some of the more interesting creatures from Arabian Nights for creature strategies today are actually smaller cards like the humble Flying Men, Kird Ape, Abu Ja'far, and Sorceress Queen. Of course, Rukh Egg is fun for token strategies as a creature that can replace itself with another body without spending further mana. Other creatures that would be nice in today's games are Ifh-Biff Efreet, Old Man of the Sea, Ali from Cairo, and Guardian Beast, but these are so expensive due to restricted printing that they are effectively out of most people's ranges and other creatures have largely replaced their relevancy.
Antiquities - Argivian Archaeologist is still used today in some artifact strategies if someone owns the card, but cards like Sharuum the Hegemon and other etb creatures largely replaced its relevancy. Probably the most interesting and fun series of creature cards are the Atogs, started by the venerable Atog. Abundant online, Priest of Yawgmoth can be seriously abused along with Triskelion at a mere 25 cents per copy. For the play value, this is a bargain that can convert your exile-targeted Blightsteel Colossus into twelve black mana at instant speed. It's half the cost of the Triskelion, folks...what's not to love? Get a set and imagine what he can do with just Memnarch alone.
Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Homelands, and Alliances - Angus Mackenzie, all 0-cmc kobolds (mostly used for trick-shot infinite decks), Fallen Angel, Hazezon Tamar, Hell's Caretaker, Nicol Bolas, Rubinia Soulsinger, Ball Lightning, Order of Leitbur, Order of the Ebon Hand, Thelonite Druids, Knight of Stromgald, Lhurgoyf, Marton Stromgald (very brutal for red horde goblins if he survives), Merieke Ri Berit, Order of the White Shield, Sengir Autocrat, Phelddagrif, Yavimaya Ants are usable. All in all, though, most creatures during this time are not really value-based where you get something of value just by playing them.
Mirage, Visions, Weatherlight - From Mirage, Maro, Frenetic Efreet, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Spirit of the Night, and Zirilan of the Claw all have their uses, but are fringe cards at best only if your deck theme can use/abuse them. From Visions, Army Ants could be a budget way to deal with utility lands, and thus is a possible card useful in any R/B deck. Additionally, Crypt Rats, Goblin Recruiter, Man-o'-War, Necrosavant, Nekrataal, Shrieking Drake, Stampeding Wildebeests, and Uktabi Orangutan represent the first time we start to see ETB effects, and built-in-recursion/damage/destruction effects on creatures. Stampeding Wildebeests is the first creature since Hell's Caretaker in Legends where we can recycle ETB effects, too. From Weatherlight, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Benalish Knight, Fallow Wurm, Harvest Wurm, Llanowar Sentinel, Thundermare, and other cards represented a design advance in getting creative with creatures, a concerted effort to change designadd ETB/LTB-type value effects to creatures.
Tempest - "Release the hounds!...er, the Slivers!" Slivers from the Tempest block are, quite possibly, the first tribe where a creature-only deck was pushing oppressive against decks that used other types of spells, and was the bane of many free-for-all games in the day. It can be seen in EDH as a similar deck, too. Sliver Queen is still one of the most powerful creature generators, abused in many infinite loops, and with a 7/7 body to boot! From Tempest (other than slivers), Coffin Queen, Dirtcowl Wurm, Dracoplasm, Gravedigger, Magmasaur, Rats of Rath, licids, Tradewind Rider, Verdant Force, Vhati il-Dal, and Wind Dancer are usable, though most are fringe uses admittedly.
Stronghold - In this set, licids, Dauthi Trapper, Mogg Maniac, Stronghold Assassin, Volrath's Shapeshifter, Sliver Queen, and Wall of Blossoms are still usable. Three creatures are all notorious from this set. Hermit Druid was used in one of the first truly blazing combo engines for competitive EDH decks, en-Kor creatures were infinitely maddening at the time and almost impossible to get through with the right build, and could work well even today with Cho-Manno, Revolutionary as a deck that will not go down without non-damaging sweepers. Shard Phoenix was part of a combo-based deck that hammered tournaments all over the United States and led to mass-bannings of counter/phoenix decks. It was so reliable and dominant that opposing players with two counter/phoenix decks were known to regularly flip a coin to see who won all three games, as the thought went that whoever went first would win two of three, so what's the point of playing? In a creature-only deck, however, the Shard Phoenix is still very relevant for taking out go-wide strategies of tokens since Saprolings and most sets today have tokens that are easily spammed.
Exodus - Licids, Ertai, Wizard Adept, Mirri, Cat Warrior, Plaguebearer (destroy a token for B), Skyshroud War Beast, Soltari Visionary, Soul Warden, and Spike Weaver are usable, with Soul Warden and Spike Weaver being the best creatures. Exodus was not as friendly towards creature-only decks as other Tempest block sets. By now, you've probably began to notice most creatures still being a very-situational use, but things are about to get very good in the next block...keep reading!
Urza's Saga - Argothian Elder, Barrin, Master Wizard, Cackling Fiend, Carrion Beetles, Child of Gaea, Citanul Hierophants, Copper Gnomes (Blightsteel, anyone?), Crater Hellion, Elvish Herder, Fire Ants, Gilded Drake, Goblin Matron, Goblin Lackey, Great Whale, Intrepid Hero, Karn, Silver Golem, Monk Realist, Morphling, Peregrine Drake, Priest of Gix, Priest of Titania, Serra Avatar, Shivan Hellkite, and Spire Owl are usable in the right builds. Wait a second...some of these cards are actually used on still-current decks, and some of them are regular EDH staples? Whaaa...? Things from here get much, much better. Wizards of the Coast finally realized that creatures can be more than meatshields and add to all kinds of strategies.
Urza's Legacy - Avalanche Riders, Beast of Burden, Bone Shredder, Cloud of Faeries, Deranged Hermit, Karmic Guide, Mother of Runes, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer, Palinchron, Viashino Heretic, and Weatherseed Treefolk are usable. Many of these "When ETB, untap x lands" creatures are all notorious, with Palinchron leading the pack for infinite shenanigans. With bounce lands from Ravnica giving you two mana per tap and a creature like Twilight Shepherd, a creature player could drop a hand to really extend, but still have a plan b if someone sweeps creatures. So while an infinite combo with only creatures would be quite the Rube-Goldberg machine, these "untap x lands" can still definitely fit into an Azorius-colored deck.
Urza's Destiny - Apprentice Necromancer (I've personally seen him used well with Reveillark, Saffi Eriksdotter, Doomed Necromancer, and Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter to set up and protect an endless loop to clear the table of all other creatures, leaving a massive Vish Kal as a major threat) is an example of a usable creature that can be chained into a soft lock on the table. Other notable creatures from Urza's Destiny: Elvish Piper, False Prophet (sometimes you just gotta...), Gamekeeper, Junk Diver, Masticore, Metalworker, Rayne, Academy Chancellor, Reliquary Monk, Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, Taunting Elf (notable for already having a built-in Lure), Telepathic Spies, and Thorn Elemental, Yavimaya Elder. The idea here isn't to tell you how to use all these creatures, or any other fringe/main-deck creatures, but rather just to put them here so you can browse for interesting things you might not find in a normal Gatherer search. Certainly, any of these in the right creature deck can have their uses. For example, Gamekeeper and Elvish Piper from this set might be used along with Sakura-Tribe Elder to power out big, green creatures turns ahead of when they can come out normally. With this idea, think things like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, Primeval Titan, and Sylvan Primordial...ugh! Someone had better have a sweeper in hand...because this isn't that far off of casual decks I've seen that run similar creatures, except that Genesis Wave is missing from the list.
I play a rainbow deck with 40 elementals and 22 lands. Most of the elementals come from Lorwyn block. Evokers and other etb/ltb-effect creatures are cycled in and out of the battlefield by Incandescent Soulstoke, champions, and the Horde of Notions to generate massive card advantage.
I use it in smaller games such as four person FFA, 2HG, home-modified Emperor's games, 2v2, and even 1v1, though I've just made some changes to add lifegain (Spark Trooper) and more destruction (Bane of Progress and Spitebellows) to hopefully make it more competitve in full FFA in my group. In these smaller games, it has performed extemely well. I like it for the both the synergies and off-beat construction. It is my oldest deck as a result.
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
1 Plateau
1 Volcanic Island
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Arid Mesa
1 Karakas
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Rupture Spire
1 Reflecting Pool
3 Exotic Orchard
4 Primal Beyond
2 Nova Chaser
4 Flamekin Harbinger
4 Supreme Exemplar
4 Spark Trooper
2 Reveillark
4 Horde of Notions
4 Shriekmaw
4 Smokebraider
4 Mulldrifter
4 Incandescent Soulstoke
2 Bane of Progress
2 Spitebellows
This deck was submitted by RabidVacin. I like it for the simplicity, agro bend, excellent creature acceleration and hand-stuffing. 10 */* creatures are fueled by early Goblins, the hand is re-stocked by Enlistment Officer and Goblin Ringleader. Additionally, he includes creatures that destroy artifacts and enchantments, covering the basic bases. This is a fun example of mixing tribal lines (goblins and soldiers) for greater effect, along with an over-arching theme of Boros.
2 Aven Cloudchaser
2 Goblin Tinkerer
3 Keldon Warlord
4 Crusader of Odric
3 Battle Squadron
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Goblin Ringleader
3 Boros Recruit
4 Goblin Legionnaire
4 Hearthfire Hobgoblin
4 Legion Loyalist
11 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Clifftop Retreat
Note: This primer is just starting out, more to follow. If you would like to see something in particular, let me know.
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Unlike many players, my group plays to win over creating a shared experience. To us, the fun of the shared experience is taking people out, which I attribute to our 60 card history. We can and do have fun even when we don’t win, but we still always play to win. That being said, our decks are not all that cEDH. With some variety of decks in our group, my approach to each game depends on several factors.
1. My deck - If I’m playing Sliver Queen tokens, I seek to build my biomass to a needed critical mass so I can use Gaea’s Cradle for some big, splashy bomb event. This is the one most likely to kill everyone within a couple of turns when I “flip that switch” if opponents don’t hold me down. Zegana was designed to sit back and play a patient, reactive strategy. I have only 25 creatures, so I don’t get into creature battles wantonly. Instead, I let people make their moves and then I do stuff, kind of like other people’s kung fu decks. Xenagos is pure aggression, but I do spread things around if someone doesn’t rise up as a big threat; if someone does, I go after them. Jenara likes to put as many critters out and smash through evasively, using my sweepers and mass-recursion to recover faster than my opponents, and it is therefore a non-land resource attrition deck. So in a nutshell, I do play based on how the deck was built and I’m disciplined enough to trust my cards.
2 My opponents decks - since our group doesn’t play cEDH, we have to be mindful of our opponents’ strategies as the are building, insteaf of just stopping them when they go off. My friend has a Sen Triplets deck that slowly lays down defense after defense (very pillowfort-ish) backed by counterspells. So in that case, I’ve learned I have to disrupt him before he gets too layered in with too many counters and defenses. Another friend plays a Selvala grouphug deck, so everyone draws lots of cards and it can be chaos because it nullifies people who plan ahead with card draw. So in that environment where resources are flush, I just have strike where it hurts to stop people taking over or when the opening presents itself. I do stop Selvala sometimes by just nuking the board to reset conditions for my deck in that game to thrive better.
3. Opportunity - I have sweepers and other trick cards in my decks for a couple reasons, often one-sided, to catch people in an over-extended state and cost them as many cards as I can, or else to save my bacon. The two are often linked, but not always. I sometimes do it because I see an opportunity too good to pass up. Since we are all looking to win in my group, and only one can except under really bizarre circumstances, I do not hesitate to take someone out or at least annihilate their board state when I see it advantageous to my game. After all, they will and often do the same to me when they can, so it’s understood. Every now and then there are a few feel bads, but since we’ve been friends for decades we work through it and they aren’t severe in any case. When the next person dies, those two often play 60 card side duels so no one is out of play for long in our group unless they want to grab a bite in the kitchen or watch the game while talking.
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To be honest, sounds like a pretty fun meta actually.
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I might add some red stealing such as Insurrection to model Paul’s use of the voice, but this was still a significant game in that my recent changes allowed me not to get blown out. Woot.
Edit:
Hmm, maybe amplify Lifegain and massed attacks by:
-1 Hero’s Blade
-1 Sword of Vengeance
-1 Sword of the Paruns
-1 Deathrender
-1 Sword of the Animist (doesn’t really fit theme)
+1 Insurrection (under Muad-dib’s growing powers)
+1 Mob Rule (under Muad-dib’s growing powers)
+1 Pennon Blade (under Hand-to-Hand Combat)
+1 Deploy to the Front (under Fremen)
+1 Warstorm Surge (under Storms of Arrakis)
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