#edh decklist
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Godzilla Decklist Series: Biollante
Welcome to the first in a new decklist series here on Command Tower focusing on an ongoing project of mine. I’ve been a fan of Godzilla and kaiju movies for just as long as I’ve been into Magic, and so when the Godzilla series was first unveiled as part of the Ikoria set treatment, I was very excited. Since the set has come out, I’ve been in the process of building a Commander deck for each of the unique kaiju represented on a legendary creature card, and now that I have a few of them finished, I thought I’d share them here on the blog.
Today we’ll be looking at my decklist for Biollante, the kaiju version of the White-Black-Green legendary creature Nethroi. The antagonist kaiju of the 1989 film aptly titled Godzilla vs. Biollante, this creature is a man-made hybrid of Godzilla’s own cells and genetic information from a species of rose, and after being defeated in its original beautiful and melancholic Rose Form, it revives as a massive reptilian maw atop an enormous, misshapen mass of intertwined vines and roots. True to that idea, this deck utilizes Biollante’s unique mutation trigger to manipulate the graveyard and return a multitude of powerful creatures to the battlefield. By filling the yard with creatures that have zero power until they enter play, this deck can effectively bypass the restriction of its Commander’s ability and reanimate many more bodies and much more power than it might seem at first glance.
In the early turns, Biollante’s deck gets started by preparing the graveyard for her arrival. Cards like Jarad's Orders and Buried Alive quickly build up a presence of potential reanimations, and when backed up by early creatures like Fauna Shaman or Mindless Automaton that can pitch any higher-cost creatures trapped in your hand, it’s easy to get a head start on the later gameplan. Ideally, a card like Old Stickfingers or Wrenn and Seven will let you really get a leg up, quickly pushing for more value.
Because Biollante specifically looks at the power of the creatures in the graveyard, it’s possible to cheat the system a bit by utilizing cards that have zero power outside the battlefield. Cards such as Phantom Nishoba, Sekki, Seasons' Guide, and Multani are all powerful bodies that have zero power until they come into play, and so when Biollante looks at them in the yard, they don’t add anything to her total. As an added bonus, cards like these are amazing to mutate Biollante onto as well as she reaps the bonus of their +1/+1 counters or abilities that increase power.
Despite utilizing creatures that apply counters to themselves and each other, this deck isn’t really interested in manipulating those counters, so there are only a few pieces that interact with them once they’re in place. Most of the cards that do this are in here for other reasons, such as Yawgmoth's ability to draw cards and get creatures from play back into the yard or Kalonian Hydra and Ghave having zero power for Biollante's trigger. For the most part, the plan is to push for a lasting presence over moving the pieces around too much. Once the board is set up in this deck’s favor, it’s pretty easy to stay in the lead - traditional boardwipes are mostly ineffective against this list as Biollante can simply bring everything back again. Exile based wipes are a bigger problem, but the majority of them can be handled by a few creatures in the list that can sacrifice each other, allowing you to place your best options back in the yard for another round before they’re blown away. The new uberwipe Farewell is still a problem here, but if the deck gets set up quickly enough, it can deal with the players most likely to be running it to keep itself safe.
Overall, this is a fun and fast list that keeps coming back for more once things start going its way. It has the tools to defend itself simply by continuing to play to its gameplan, and its aggressive go-wide playstyle makes it fun to pop off with and watch the gears mesh into place. Biollante is one of my favorite of the Godzilla kaiju stable, and this deck really showcases her as the central piece of the puzzle.
COMMANDER
Biollante, Plant Beast Form [Nethroi, Apex of Death]
CREATURES
Ghave, Guru of Spores
Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager
Polukranos, Unchained
Old Stickfingers
Golgari Findbroker
Fiend Artisan
Faeburrow Elder
Phantom Nishoba
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig
Toski, Bearer of Secrets
Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
Sekki, Seasons' Guide
Birds of Paradise
Sylvan Caryatid
Fauna Shaman
Wood Elves
Farhaven Elf
Vizier of the Menagerie
Beast Whisperer
Cytoplast Root-Kin
Golgari Grave-Troll
Kalonian Hydra
Bane of Progress
Realm Seekers
Craterhoof Behemoth
Mindless Automaton
Solemn Simulacrum
Battra, Dark Destroyer [Dirge Bat]
Anguirus, Armored Killer [Gemrazer]
Necropanther
Boneyard Lurker
Migratory Greathorn
PLANESWALKERS
Wrenn and Seven
Vivien on the Hunt
MANA ARTIFACTS
Sol Ring
Talisman of Hierarchy
Talisman of Resilience
Talisman of Unity
Orzhov Signet
Golgari Signet
Selesnya Signet
Arcane Signet
SPELLS
Eerie Ultimatum
Abzan Charm
Despark
Anguished Unmaking
Jarad's Orders
Culling Ritual
Mirari's Wake
Vanquish the Horde
Demonic Tutor
Damn
Mythos of Nethroi
Buried Alive
Phyrexian Arena
Farseek
Life's Legacy
Eldritch Evolution
Krosan Grip
Skyshroud Claim
Return of the Wildspeaker
Rishkar's Expertise
LANDS
Indatha Triome
Murmuring Bosk
Sandsteppe Citadel
Command Tower
Godless Shrine
Shattered Sanctum
Vault of Champions
Isolated Chapel
Fetid Heath
Tainted Field
Overgrown Tomb
Deathcap Glade
Undergrowth Stadium
Woodland Cemetery
Twilight Mire
Tainted Wood
Temple Garden
Canopy Vista
Overgrown Farmland
Bountiful Promenade
Sunpetal Grove
Wooded Bastion
Krosan Verge
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
BASIC LANDS
Plains (x3)
Swamp (x3)
Forest (x5)
#wall of text#2022#magic#magic the gathering#magic: the gathering#mtg#magic tcg#card games#wizards#wizards of the coast#magic cards#tabletop gaming#commander#edh#social gaming#decklist#decklists#commander deck#edh decklist#abzan#godzilla#godzilla series#biollante#multicolor#multicolored#ikoria#godzilla mtg#tokusatsu#kaiju#nethroi
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Current up to date paper commander decks
Kinda want to make another deck tech post for one of them I haven't done yet, so might as well make a list of the currently-maintained ones and see if any piques someone's curiosity. The ones with links I have already written about and the link is to the appropriate post.
Seeing Double? It's not the Halo (Mono-Red, Jaxis, the Troublemaker, just copying things)
Barrin's Bounce and Breakfast (Mono-Blue, Barrin, Master Wizard controlly bounce deck)
Only Doing it for the Triggers (Four-colors, non-white deck all about combat triggers. Led by Yidris or Silas Renn/Tana depending how menacing I want to look)
Extus's Wonderful Adventures (Mardu, Extus in the lead using adventures as spells to trigger him and creatures to bring back)
The Bookkeeper (Five-Color, gimmick deck about challenging myself to keep track of as many different named mechanics as possible. Led by Garth One-Eye)
The Graveyard Gang (Golgari Graveyard deck with ten different possible commanders, chosen at random before the game. Only creatures and lands)
Nyx-Lit Narset (Jeskai, OG Narset, Enlightened Master who shed all her extra turns and extra combats to be a still-powerful aura voltron deck)
Tap, Untap. Concede? (Esper Combo deck, starring Merieke Ri Berit in the command zone, all about tap abilities and untapping effects)
Utilitown (Five-Color deck but actually a colorless deck with a handful of colored cards. Focus on colorless Utility lands, and eventually winning through Door to Nothingness. Currently led by Kyodai by default.)
My Best Defense is Your Best Offense (Bant Kros deck revolving around cards that can put counters on my things and/or my opponents, and Proliferate them, to work with or without the commander)
For now that's all the multiplayer commander decks I update regularly, a few others I keep as-is to play whenever I want to feel some nostalgia. Any that people want to see the current version of?
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Not so much a rules question, but more of your insight as a judge and CAG member. I’m wondering how you feel about the mechanic Mutate? The reason I ask is that I see people complain about it on on-line forums but never in play groups in my area. I personally have an EDH deck that runs almost all the Mutate creatures available and I think it’s one of the most fun decks I have. It never gets stale or boring. Anyway, I wondered if it causes headaches for judges and what your thoughts on it are. Thank you for your time.
Mutate is a strange mechanic with some rules quirks to it, but it's certainly less complex than some other mechanics I can think of. IMO, it's just a mechanic you need to play with a couple of times to get the hang of it. I haven't heard of much hate for it though.
Personally, I love Mutate. I even have a mutate EDH deck! (It needs updating though.)
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Paper Magic - cEDH Decklist
Satoru Umezawa
https://aetherhub.com/Deck/satoru-umezawa-edh
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Magus Lucea Kane copies my creature spells, and I got tired of making fresh dry erase tokens for them every time, so I prepared these with sharpie and placeholder cards for a more permanent solution
They really add some personality when I’m building the stack or displaying them on my board
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/aaTGkWilPUe0Z81ad04UzA is my decklist if anyone is interested
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just came up with the single most evil concept for an EDH deck. commander is this dude:
the 99 would be mostly unplayable shit with literally 0 wincons, but notably includes the following creatures:
(the Serpent and Dandân represent the 14 total creatures in the game that straight up kill themselves the moment their controller controls no Islands, so you would have a total of 17 creatures with text boxes like this)
crucially, you need to INSIST that everyone else at the table takes a look at your cool new decklist before playing. this is where the actual gameplay happens: if they realize what you're trying to do, they will shut that shit down immediately by banning the deck; if they glance over it and go "huh seems weak" they fully deserve what they get.
the gameplan goes as follows:
get one of your 17 conditionally suicidal creatures onto the field
cast your commander
at the beginning of your end step, put two +1/+1 counters on the suicidal creature and donate it to an opponent without any of the relevant lands/colored permanents/etc.
ask if anyone has removal for the shitty creature. your opponents will probably chuckle at this - why would they remove a creature that's about to sacrifice itself?
announce that because the creature is trying to sacrifice itself based on a state-based trigger but isn't allowed to sacrifice itself due to its own static ability, it is creating an infinite loop of state-based actions that can only be ended by directly removing the creature in question. ask if anyone has removal again
"no? looks like it's a draw then :)"
dodge the table being thrown at you
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hey magic the gatheringers, ive been rebuilding my favorite edh decks and hyperfixating on them lately so i just wanted to make a pretty lil post about them offering them to anyone who wants to play em :) these are my favorite decks right now and ive just run through and adjusted the decklists of all of them in the last couple days so they're fresh and ready to perform <3
the first deck is Rocco Cast From Exile!
the third rework of this decklist with the new cards from CLU really cemented that this is my favorite deck i've ever made. Rocco, Street Chef plays kingpin to a unique Naya value pile built around playing cards from exile!
this deck is similar to Prosper, who is unfortunately the face of Cast From Exile-- but unlike Prosper, this commander and the other options for CFE payoffs you get in Naya are super interesting and cool :) you get [[Feldorn]], [[Pia Nalaar]], [[Quintorius Kand]], as well as fun cheapening effects like [[Liara Portyr]] and [[Tlincalli Hunter]] on top of the delightful cascade effects green gets!
you also get to play around with +1/+1 counters (Rocco might be the best commander of all time at like... putting +1/+1s on specific individual creatures honestly??) and the magic that is food tokens (which are getting stronger and stronger each passing set). furthermore, Rocco impulse draws for your opponents, which means you get to encourage them to make tough decisions! do they play their combo piece from exile, feeding your deck? (Rocco is so efficient that they will soon learn that the answer to that question is almost always no... but you can always pretend that you're playing group hug and giving them free cards until they figure that out!)
this deck gets a lot of mana and builds up a monstrous board state very quickly. as far as individual value pieces go, be on the lookout for [[Jaheria, Friend of the Forest]], [[Inspiring Statuary]], and [[Night of the Sweets' Revenge]] for ways to make an unreal amount of mana. [[Herd Baloth]] and [[Faldorn]] will get you tokens for every card played from exile, and i would say are the main things giving you a monstrous board. don't sleep on the cascaders and thieves either-- every extra card obtained from things like [[Bloodbraid Elf]] or the Etalis net you another Cast From Exile trigger!
Naya Cast From Exile is weird and awesome and I highly recommend playing and building in this design space :) there's a lot of Naya CFE cards that work but I cut from the deck, and they give us more cards and commanders for the archetype all the time. this is definitely my favorite deck i've ever made <3
the second deck i'd like to show off is my Oloro Control decklist!
i've always been the interaction player at the table. you might find that these decklists are a bit heavy on the interaction for you actually-- i truly believe disruption is like. so important. especially when you're playing for value rather than combos like i do ^_^
so here is my dedicated Esper Control decklist! Oloro is there to keep you topped off and to draw you cards-- by playing this deck it really does net you anywhere from 10-40 extra life in a given game in my experience just by playing him. and the card draw on Oloro is pretty insane, enabling you to find the necessary ramp and bombs to end the game after you've disrupted every combo at the table :) personally i don't like Oloro the character very much at all-- don't know why, but he's a little difficult for me to look at. i personally have a custom proxy that replaces Oloro with Grusha :3
this Control deck is all about gaining slow and steady value while ensuring the bad things aren't sent your way. there are some stax pieces here, but not very strict ones-- your goal is to remain innocuous while you get the mana and cards to play your bombs and your opponents hopefully go at each other. the bombs in question are things like [[Debt to the Deathless]], [[Expropriate]], [[Torment of Hailfire]], planeswalkers like [[Sorin Markov]], and creatures that amass you value quickly like [[Drogskol Reaver]] and [[Sunscorch Regent]]. you gain life, shut down your opponents, and force unwinnable situations or knock out opponents with big bombs. it's fun!
the third deck is Vadrok Inevitable Betrayal Combo!
Vadrok here is the final fruit of my obsession with the 0 cmc suspend cards I went through a few months back. after toying with pretty much ever one in turn, Vadrok is the one that stuck around because he plays so interestingly and truly warps your table's metagame if you bring him out enough times.
let's get into the weeds: the combo here is a pretty simple one-- Vadrok is one of (and the only legendary) engine that allows you to play cards from your graveyard without exiling them after, done by mutating. [[Inevitable Betrayal]] is a 0 mana cost blue spell that takes a creature from an opponent's deck and puts it onto the battlefield under your control. The combo, then, is a gradual one: use a spell to discard Inevitable Betrayal, and mutate onto Vadrok. each mutate plays Inevitable Betrayal for free, allowing you to cheat out an opponent's creature each time. this is strong.
the deck features a suite of tutors, a variety of ways to discard cards, and every mutate card in Jeskai (except the one whose mutate cost is six mana :P). the combo is surprisingly low to the ground and quick, allowing for turn one/two discards and turn three Vadrok mutates at times. however, it's often worth waiting to mutate Vadrok onto a creature with Hexproof to ensure little interruption as you swarm the board with your opponents' best hits.
this deck, of course, relies heavily on your opponents' decks then. which is why this deck is so metagame-warping-- even at more casual tables, you'll probably see your friends take their funny eldrazi and craterhoofs out of their decks because you're so prone to winning with them. personally, i find that delightful! i tend to cycle deck usage anyway, so it's cute to steal a bunch of things for a couple weeks, have my opponents edit their decklists to remove my hits, lose interest in the deck, and come back a couple months later and steal the good hits in their new decks, repeat :) its fun having a deck that warps metagames with its presence alone.
the final deck id like to talk about is my Silvar and Trynn Humans decklist!
mardu is delightful and for the longest time i couldn't find a mardu commander i ever wanted to build! finally though, i stumbled across these two :) the art on them is so gorgeous! i love ikoria.
this deck is very fun! the only typal deck on the list, humans is a very fun type to build around and you get access to so many bangers in mardu. this deck is all about building a board of as many humans as you possibly can, then sacking them all to put 17 +1/+1 counters on Silvar and start swinging for commander lethal. how that is done is different every game, with so many fun human pieces and interaction pieces that each game feels very distinctly different from the last more so than any of the other decks discussed on this post. furthermore, mardu offers my favorite interaction suite of all time, so it's always a pleasure to play with.
teehee anyway thats my decks ive been hyperfixating on! feel free to give em a try :) sqrrk!!
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Do you have a decklist of the Sharkstill deck that I can base a deck off of. My LGS mostly does Modern so it could be a great way to break away from EDH for once.
bit outdated since it's from like last month but it's a legacy deck, not modern
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I think it's also worth noting that a sizable amount of MTG players seem to think lying is a scummy thing to do, even if its within the rules. Consider the handful of situations where there's been new game rules made because of situations like this.
Like the Borborygmos-Pithing Needle Issue. A player named Borborygmos with Pithing Needle. His opponent, who has Borborygmos Enraged as a wincon in his deck accepts this and the game continues. Later on when Borborygmos comes into play, said opponent tries to activate its ability. Judge gets called and the opponent argues that because the guy said "Borborygmos" and there exists a card that came before "Borborygmos Enraged" that is exactly named "Borborygmos" it should not affect his card.
This ends up being ruled in his favor, there's outrage, a year later a new rule gets made about players needing to clarify when a named card is ambiguous.
For more context on the current game and cards:
- The players knew each other's decklists
- Borborygmos Enraged is the only viably playable "Borborygmos" in that format
- Pithing Needle would only have an effect on Borborygmos Enraged, seeing as Borborygmos has no activated abilities
- The Borborygmos player says he regretted it
- The players had already agreed to split the prizes, the game was only there to show audiences at home a good game
- The Pithing Needle player had no hard feelings about it
So, luckily there was very little tangible, negative consequences out of the game and we got a good rule out of it. But you can sort of see from these details, it was obvious what card the Pithing Needle player meant. Both players understood that, one just knew there was a loophole he could exploit.
Even before the new ruling was made, "clarifying when a named card is ambiguous" was kind of how the game already operated. I find from the competitive/tournament magic I've played that bluffing is fair play and lying is not. I haven't been able to see a full clip of that EDH game where someone lied about not being able to win when they tried resolving a spell, but I have seen that it was a proactive choice for them to resolve their spell AND they tried to damage control once their other players got audibly upset with them at the point when they were trying to win/post-game. At the very least, they didn't want other people to be upset with them. This is a learning experience to not lie if you want to be in good graces with others, even if your statement isn't lying about game pieces.
#mtg#also just so it's clear: I hold no inherent morality to lying#it's totally context dependent#I think the lying in these situations is morally wrong BUT i don't think it's huge#some social backlash is warranted but not harassment
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I got a follower on this blog, so I feel it's important to clarify a few things.
1. We started playing Magic in March of 2023.
2. We play EDH because it's considerably more interesting to us than 60 card formats.
3. We play an infect/modular/proliferate deck named APV 8.1.3 online and an infect/modular/proliferate deck named APV-B in real life. Both use Atraxa, Praetor's Voice as the commander, and both have similar decklists, but APV-B costs a quarter of APV 8.1.3. APV was the first deck we ever built, and we have been optimizing it since then. It's gotten to the point where our girlfriend has said she is going to kick our ass when she has something optimized enough to deal with us, which she doesn't yet.
4. We are very horny for Atraxa specifically.
5. We're also horny for Elesh Norn but in a different way. We want Atraxa to dominate us. We want Elesh to be our mommydomme.
6. Our main blog is @the-many-children-of-the-void
7. Our blog icon is a cat token from the Japanese release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and our blog header is Temple of the False God.
8. Masterlist of our decks.
9. Our personal post tag is #hail phyrexia
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Hello, and welcome to the Etali Review
This is literally just a blog for me to review cards for Etali, Primal Conqueror as a commander/EDH deck in Magic: the Gathering.
My pronouns (and Etali's) are she/her/hers. This blog is aggressively queer-friendly. Bigots will be eaten by the giant lightning dinosaur.
Cards not in the list will be reviewed on 4 axes (this system needs work, so bear with me please). I'm tentatively calling this the SVEPE system (pronounced "sveep"):
Synergy 0-5. This describes the card's potential to interact with our gameplan positively (ie copying Etali, caring about ETBs and tokens, or similar).
Versatility 0-5. This describes how effective the card is in a variety of scenarios. Something like Dockside Extortionist is always good, so it scores a 5, while something like Veil of Summer is pretty specific so it might score a 2 or a 3.
Explosive Potential 0-5. This describes the ability of a card to either combo or facilitate a storm turn. Highly explosive cards such as Birgi, God of Storytelling help us accelerate into a crazy turn, while less explosive cards that score 1-3 in this category look more like your standard mana and card advantage engines (dorks and mana rocks etc).
Efficiency 0-5. This describes how effectively a card does its job in any scenario. Birds of Paradise has an efficiency score of 5, as it's arguable the best Gruul mana dork. Something like Ilysian Caryatid will get something closer to a 3, as it's usually a 2 mana for 1 mana dork in the early game.
Cards that score below a 13 will not be considered for the main list (and usually won't be reviewed unless requested). 13 to 17 will put a card in the "Considering" section, meaning it needs playtesting or is a more niche pick. 18s and 19s go in the sideboard, or sometimes straight to the main list. By my estimate, the only 20 as of right now is Food Chain.
Please feel free to send asks with card suggestions for review! Otherwise I'll be reviewing relevant Gruul and colorless cards from new sets. For older picks, make sure to check the decklist to make sure they haven't been reviewed already. Discussion is always open as long as you remain friendly and polite.
You can find the decklist with the primer here: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/hiv7-YFhZ0qm0QuKVxylPQ
You can find a $100 decklist here: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/8VHBfcL1Dk-soPKC6AhDMg
An MtG Arena Historic Brawl deck for Etali is currently under construction, and will be added to this pinned post when complete.
A comboless EDH deck for Etali is currently under construction, and will be added to this pinned post when complete.
#mtg#mtg commander#magic the gathering#magic the girlbossing#dinosaur#mtg edh#EDH#mtg arena#phyrexia#phyrexia all will be one#march of the machine
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Casual Casualties: Playing Mindfully
As Shivam Bhatt has said: “Casual is a mindset, not a power level.” This is a wonderful concept for how I, and many others, like to enjoy Commander. There is nothing wrong with going all out and playing the fastest, most powerful cards and combos ever printed, and EDH is one of the best formats to do so. However, EDH also happens to be the best format for the polar opposite. It’s a place where you can play some of the biggest, silliest, and least powerful cards as well. I land much farther on the casual end, but I can play and enjoy either end of the spectrum. As much as I love relaxed and casual Magic, I feel like the there are some important elements of Magic that get muddled into the mix at many tables. Playing casually and playing well are not mutually exclusive, and in this “Casual Casualties” series of blogs, I want to highlight some things I think are still important to every game, regardless of what power level you like to play at.
Playing Mindfully:
Step one of this process is knowing what the cards in your deck do. This isn’t a quick and easy task by any means, but there is a certain amount of responsibility on every player at the table to know, to at least some extent, what cards they are playing. Do you need to know every interaction possible in a 100 card deck? No. There are literally thousands of possible board states in a single deck, and that’s amazing because variety and surprises are one of the most fulfilling parts of EDH. However, you will get the most out of your decks and have the most fun by knowing what your cards do, and having a general idea of what direction your deck is headed when you’re piloting it. This is also a good way to be respectful of everyone else’s time. If you are playing a complicated card, that’s perfectly fine, but knowing how that card functions and being able to explain it to the rest of the table without a 5 minute discussion will speed things up and help everyone move forward and continue having fun.
The best way to do this is simply to read your cards. The internet has streamlined deck building and made Magic as a whole extremely accessible for almost anyone, regardless of how familiar they are with the game. You don’t need to have thousands of cards memorized to be able to build a strong and cohesive deck, and that’s awesome. However, with this convenience comes unfamiliarity with your cards. You can download a decklist, plug it into CardKingdom, and have the cards at your door, sorted and sleeved within a week. To actually play with the deck though, there is a burden of responsibility on you to know what the cards you are using actually do. This will come naturally as you play the deck, but a good way to get a jumpstart on this process is to read the cards. “Reading the card explains the card” as the Professor always says, and as simple as it sounds, it’s a vital part to mindfully playing.
Ok, you’ve read every card in your deck a couple times and shouldn’t top deck any surprises. Step one down, time to play! You’ve sat down with your play group or at your pod, and you’ve got a nice hand of seven and you’re feeling good. You throw down an turn one Essence Warden and just wait for the value. Everyone is building their board states and you can here the *boop boop* sound in your head every time your life total goes up. But as you and everyone else keeps playing cards, the board gets bigger, there are more and more triggers every time something happens, and your poor little Essence Warden gets missed a few times. Things keep happening and all of sudden you’re facing lethal damage. You look down and see your Essence Warden staring you in the face, and remember all at once all of the extra life you should have at this point. It’s too much to reasonably or accurately count, and you know the fairest thing to do is to take the L.
The only person who should have saved you in this situation is you. And that’s where playing mindfully comes in. Doing your best to keep track of your triggers is a really important part of this. Wether it’s a soul sister, a Saga upkeep trigger, the number of cards in your hand, or a Rhystic Study, paying attention to your board will help you feel like you’re getting the most out of your cards, regardless of the power level. A significant amount of feel-bad moments will be mitigated just by knowing what is happening on your board in relation to everyone else’s. As you become more familiar with your cards and how the deck functions as a whole, this gets easier because you will have a better idea of what your deck needs to do to be successful and how important your effects are to that end. This will also help you notice which cards really aren’t doing much for you, and might be on the chopping block for optimizing your deck. Inevitably, you will still miss triggers here and there. Commander gets complicated, and that 1/1 you played on your first turn can definitely get lost in the mix as the game evolves, and that’s ok. Just make sure you are doing your best to keep track of what you’re doing, and it will do wonders for your overall enjoyment of the games you play.
As you get better at paying attention to your board, you will naturally get better at paying attention to everyone else’s board too. While it is not your responsibility to make sure your opponents are playing their cards correctly, it is good sportsmanship and in the spirit of the casual mindset to lend a hand where you can as other people play. Not everyone has the same amount of time to put into the game and become familiar with so many cards. Some people simply may not be able to keep track of information as easily as other people. Some people might be having a rough day and EDH is not the first thing on their mind at the moment. All of these situations are not only ok, but likely to be something you run into here and there. If you see something, say something. If you notice someone miss a trigger, forget to draw their card for turn, or anything like that, remind them! A big part of the casual mindset is wanting everyone to have fun, and helping everyone keep track of what’s going on helps everyone get the most out of the time you are sharing. It’s hard to be salty toward a player who did everything they could to help you play effectively, and if everyone is looking out for each other, the experience will generally be more positive.
There are probably twenty other topics to include in the realm of playing mindfully, but these are just some thoughts I wanted to put down, and part one of what I assume will be a few of this particular series of blogs. Feel free to share any other ideas you have about playing mindfully, and playing casually in general!
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Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter EDH Decklist
This is my Vish Kal EDH deck. My decks are constantly evolving, so I can't say that its finished, but it's in a state where it is worthy of sharing.
I would love any constructive criticism or comments!
General: Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
((Borderless art alter by closetvictorian from Rogue Bard Media) and yes, thats my card! Isn't he perfect? She did a fantastic job!)
Artifacts (16):
Caged Sun
Charcoal Diamond
Chromatic Lantern
Commander's Sphere
Everflowing Chalice
Jet Medallion
Moonsilver Spear
Nim Deathmantle
Orzhov Cluestone
Orzhov Keyrune
Pristine Talisman
Sensei's Divining Top
Sol Ring
Solemn Simulacrum
Unstable Obelisk
Worn Powerstone
Creatures (16):
Angel of Serenity
Athreos, God of Passage
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Avatar of Woe
Butcher of Malakir
Crypt Ghast
Divinity of Pride
Harvester of Souls
Luminate Primordial
Magus of the Coffers
Mikaeus, The Unhallowed
Nezumi Graverobber
Odric, Master Tactician
Reya Dawnbringer
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Vampire Nighthawk
Enchantments (6):
Celestial Mantle
Exquisite Blood
Gift of Immortality
Proper Burial
Sanguine Bond
Wound Reflection
Instants (6):
Fated Retribution
Fated Return
Hero's Downfall
Mortify
Unmake
Utter End
Planeswalkers (4):
Liliana of the Dark Realms
Liliana Vess
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Sorceries (11):
Akroma's Vengeance
Ancient Craving
Angelic Edict
Decree of Pain
Diabolic Tutor
Hour of Reckoning
In Garruk's Wake
Obzedat's Aid
Planar Cleansing
Rise of the Dark Realms
Tempt with Immortality
Land (40):
Basic (33):
Swamps: 16
Plains: 17
Non-Basic (7):
Caves of Koilos
Evolving Wilds
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Scoured Barrens
Tainted Field
Temple of the False God
Vault of the Archangel
Credit must go to Radiant Iolite for extensive assistance with the concept, deck testing, fantastic suggestions, and encouragement. This deck wouldn't exist without them.
#EDH#elder dragon highlander#Vish Kal#magic the gathering#mtg#EDH decklist#MTG decklist#radiant iolite#closetvictorian rogue bard media rogue bard
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...i gotta say, slivers are pretty neat
#what if i whipped up a sliver decklist just to be a little bitch#i have a soft spot for pointy headed critters#and i really like the tribe's flavor#mtg#magic the gathering#slivers#edh
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Mizzix's Mastery EDH
http://docker2.deckedbuilder.com:3001/d/306332 A combo deck with the game plan of: 1. Fill the graveyard 2. Cast Mizzix's Mastery 3. Gain an absurd boardstate Some notable interactions: •Insurrection followed by Clone Legion •Increasing Vengeance targeting Clone Legion or Army of the Damned •Freecasting rituals •Unsubstantiate cast off of Mind's Desire, to then cast Mind's Desire again, then Spelltwine to cast it AGAIN •Temporal Fissure, then wheeling everyone else's boardstates away It's kinda rude bc the turn it goes off takes like 10 mins, but dang is it cool to see it work
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with a big chunk of the Fallout set spoiled, its time to talk about what this means for my favorite EDH deck, [[Rocco Street Chef]] Naya Cast From Exile. the advent of Junk tokens is changing the game, and they printed this time around some of the strongest pieces I've ever seen for the CFE archetype. so, welcome to the Top 5 Fallout Cards for the Discerning Rocco Player!
Honorable Mention: Mister Gutsy
Mister Gutsy is, theoretically, one of the top targets ever printed for Rocco to throw +1/+1 counters onto-- if you have the shell to make that a worthwhile venture. Mister Gutsy can get very big very fast from Rocco's counter targeting, and then eventually impulse draw so many cards for you to get value from using Junk tokens. This would be great if your opponents were incentivized to kill it-- unfortunately, no evasion makes Mister Gutsy's big body pretty worthless in Commander unless you can provide it evasion somehow. The Junk tokens would be great as long and you can make sure Mister Gutsy dies-- this is similarly difficult in Commander (unless your opponents are incentivized to kill it, which they are not) unless you have ways to sacrifice or destroy your own artifacts consistently. Mister Gutsy would be great in the right decks, but my Rocco shell can't support him the way he needs; I don't think he's finding his way into my decklist.
Number 5: Junk Jet
Junk Jet's 3 mana and sac an artifact to double equipped creature's power is a decent effect, and if you'd like to play Junk Jet, Rocco is the perfect deck for it. It's on a good curve against Rocco's 3 CMC, Rocco makes more than enough artifacts to pay its costs, with often a lot of mana through Food payoffs. Furthermore, it creates a Junk on ETB, which in a Rocco deck is like an overtuned cantrip. While I'm not sure Junk Jet can compete with too many of the cards in my pile, this is a very strong and particularly fun option :)
Number 4: Crimson Caravaneer
Crimson Caravaneer is one of my favorite cards printed in this set, and is a wonderful target for Rocco's +1/+1 counters. this on the battlefield alongside Rocco will terrify your opponents-- it grows so strong so fast, becoming incredibly difficult to kill in combat almost immediately. If you can get a hexproofing equipment on her it might win you the game on its own-- making up to (and often!) TWO Junks whenever it attacks, which is such an engine for Rocco. this is a worthwhile inclusion.
Number 3: Junktown
It's Junktown! One of the strongest drawlands they've ever printed, I think, but particularly strong for Rocco-- if you've slowed down and are struggling to play the game, Junktown alone gets you three cards and three CFE triggers for six mana. That rate isn't great until you realize it's on a land that enters untapped-- if you aren't too worried about paying pips (im not! :3) Junktown is basically a free inclusion that alone has the potential to turn the entire game around. I'm definitely making room for this one.
Number 2: Rose, Cutthroat Raider
Rose here is Rocco's premiere Junk token maker. like holy shit. all you have to do is attack each opponent to make that many Junk tokens per turn, and Rocco is amazing at getting creature tokens that are either too big to block proper or too expendable for it to matter, churning your deck forward with so many cast from exile triggers a turn. and then, sweetening the deal so much-- your junk tokens are now treasures. holy shit.
Number 1: Wild Wasteland
god, what a print. we've spoken before on this post and others about how impulse draw is far better than traditional card draw in a Rocco deck because it lets you get your cast from exile triggers, which can build up very fast in a Naya Cast From Exile deck. Wild Wasteland not only says impulse draw one extra card on each of your turns, but fuck it-- that card you usually draw is now an impulse draw too. You are paying three mana and consistent instant-speed interaction for two extra CFE triggers a turn, which are the lifeblood of the Rocco player. please play this card.
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