NOTE: I'm finally catching up. Only two weeks behind, but I think I'll come out of this with everything caught up in the next couple of weeks, but ideally I'll be caught up by next week. I just have a Kaalia of the Vast deck and an Edric, Spymaster of Trest deck to get to. Shouldn't be long. I had a couple free hours to get this one done.
There are quite a few Commander/EDH decks that I want to build, and I've wanted to do something with Geist for a little while now. He's hexproof, he creates Angels that attack and disappear every turn, and he's all around quite an interesting commander, so let's see what awesome things we can do with this guy...
First and foremost, this deck will not focus on having cards solely from the past three years, so we have a much broader range with which to play with a deck. Additionally, this will not focus on any particular guild element like Detain or Forecast from Azorius. This will be a build open to using just about anything...

Legendary Creatures
x1 Geist of Saint Traft (Commander)
x1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
x1 Medomai the Ageless
x1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Creatures
x1 Aegis Angel
x1 Aetherling
x1 Aetherplasm
x1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
x1 Angel of Jubilation
x1 Angel of Serenity
x1 Archangel of Thune
x1 Archon of Redemption
x1 Ascended Lawmage
x1 Augur of Bolas
x1 Banisher Priest
x1 Blind Phantasm
x1 Drogskol Captain
x1 Elgaud Shieldmate
x1 Hero of Bladehold
x1 Invisible Stalker
x1 Latch Seeker
x1 Lord of the Unreal
x1 Luminous Angel
x1 Phantasmal Bear
x1 Phantasmal Dragon
x1 Phantasmal Image
x1 Phantom General
x1 Phantom Warrior
x1 Sky Spirit
x1 Spectral Rider
x1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
x1 Spirit of the Hearth
x1 Thistledown Liege
x1 True Believer
x1 Twilight Drover
x1 Wall of Denial |
Instants
x1 Midnight Haunting
x1 Overrule
x1 Path to Exile
x1 Vanish into Memory
Sorceries
x1 Preordain
x1 Spectral Procession
Enchantments
x1 Angelic Shield
x1 Aqueous Form
x1 Intangible Virtue
x1 Leyline of the Meek
x1 Leyline of Sanctity
x1 Oblivion Ring
x1 Promise of Bunrei
x1 Steel of the Godhead
x1 True Conviction |
Artifacts
x1 Azorius Keyrune
x1 Azorius Signet
x1 Inquisitor's Flail
x1 Lightning Greaves
x1 Moonsilver Spear
x1 Sol Ring
x1 Umezawa's Jitte
Planeswalkers
x1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
x1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
x1 Venser, the Sojourner
Lands
x1 Adakar Wastes
x1 Azorius Chancery
x1 Azorius Guildgate
x1 Calciform Pools
x1 Celestial Colonade
x1 Command Tower
x1 Cloudcrest Lake
x1 Evolving Wilds
x1 Flood Plain
x1 Glacial Fortress
x1 Hallowed Fountain
x1 Kabira Crossroads
x1 Mistveil Plains
x1 Moonring Island
x1 Moorland Haunt
x1 Mystic Gate
x1 Nimbus Maze
x1 Opal Palace
x1 Prahv, Spires of Order
x1 Sejiri Refuge
x1 Soaring Seacliff
x1 Vivid Creek
x1 Vivid Meadow
x9 Plains
x6 Island |
Unlike the Standard format EDH decks I built previously, this one is definitely going to cost more.
Geist of Saint Traft (at the time of this writing) is already around $16 because he's good. He can't be touched unless he's blocked, 3 mana for a commander is relatively cheap to pay out of the gate, and there is so much that can be done!
Let's start out taking a look at the other legendary creatures:
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is already pretty cool. He makes the things your opponents cast one more, and anything white for you costs one less, blue one less, and of course, hybrids or multicolored spells you cast would be two less. With him on the field, you could make Geist two less to cast each time you play him from the Command Zone (but hopefully you won't have to). Thalia is about the same purpose, making your opponents pay more for spells, and if she makes all noncreature spells cost more, Augustin IV will even it out. Medomai the Ageless allows extra turns, which means more damage directed at your opponents. Isn't that great?
Now let's look at the themes...
Unblockable
So the unblockable suite (of which only a three cards are representing above) was initially started because I wanted things with hexproof, and Invisible Stalker fit the bill, but why have just one unblockable creature? Why not add more?
Illusions
Illusions that get +1/+1 and hexproof? This keeps your Illusion creatures from vanishing because of their abilities. So you can copy some really sweet thing your opponent has with Phantasma Image, or you can start beating them with a 6/6 hexproof flying dragon. This is just pure awesome!
Tokens
I like decks with tokens. You get to have so much fun with it. For instance, you have this pretty sweet combo in Geist of Saint Traft and Twilight Drover. No matter what happens, the 4/4 Angel token created by Geist is going to go away, so you get a counter on Twilight Drover. Granted you then need mana to take a counter off and put tokens on the field, but it works well. Add Intangible Virtue to the mix, and all 1/1 tokens are 2/2 tokens (there are more things like Intangible Virtue in the deck) and you then attack with 5/5 Angels whenever Geist attacks. Hero of Bladehold has a similar effect of attacking and putting 1/1 tokens on the field (which she already makes 2/1 and mix it with any of the creatures or enchantments that pump tokens, you're doing pretty well).
Lifegain
I mean, why not? Archangel is a great creature, and you can then make it so even when blocked, Geist of Saint Traft still won't die because he is too powerful. Or, well, make him unblockable after lots of lifegain to deal all the commander damage to an opponent. Why did you think Umezawa's Jitte was in here? Oh, right, because it's so much better than just lifegain, but works great just with lifegain and Archangel of Thune.
Everything else, for the most part,works with all of these, whether it be illusions, lifegain, tokens, and also a spirit theme that pumps up spirit creatures (which works well with those spirit tokens). While a pretty expensive deck, it looks like it will work pretty well. If I can get all the cards for this, I may actually build it for play.