Commander Mondays (12/30/2013): Uril, the Miststalker

Using Uril, the Miststalker as a commander is a pretty simple. All you need are creatures modified by enchantments.

Legendary Creatures (2) x1 Uril, the Miststalker (Commander) x1 Krond the Dawn-Clad Creatures (17) x1 Ajani's Chosen x1 Aura Gnarlid x1 Elderwood Scion x1 Gladecover Scout x1 Gatherer of Graces x1 Grand Abolisher x1 Kitsune Mystic x1 Kor Spiritdancer x1 Mesa Enchantress x1 Nomad Mythmaker x1 Quickening Licid x1 Rabid Wombat x1 Rakeclaw Gargantuan x1 Tempting Licid x1 Thran Golem x1 Totem-Guide Hartebeest x1 Trained Caracal Enchantment Creatures (10) x1 Boon Satyr x1 Celestial Archon x1 Heliod's Emissary x1 Hopeful Eidolon x1 Leafcrown Dryad x1 Lucent Liminid x1 Nylea's Emissary x1 Observant Alseid x1 Purphoros's Emissary x1 Spearpoint Oread

Sorceries (1) x1 Retether Enchantment - Auras (27) x1 Armadillo Cloak x1 Chosen by Heliod x1 Battle Mastery x1 Boar Umbra x1 Daily Regimen x1 Daybreak Coronet x1 Divine Favor x1 Eldrazi Conscription x1 Ethereal Armor x1 Felidar Umbra x1 Feral Invocation x1 Hyena Umbra x1 Indrik Umbra x1 Keen Sense x1 Mammoth Umbra x1 Messenger's Speed x1 Ordeal of Heliod x1 Ordeal of Nylea x1 Ordeal of Purphoros x1 Rancor x1 Shiv's Embrace x1 Snake Umbra x1 Spider Umbra x1 Spirit Mantle x1 Vow of Duty x1 Vow of Lightning x1 Vow of Wildness Enchantments (3) x1 Leyline of Sanctity x1 Sigil of the Empty Throne x1 Sphere of Safety

Artifacts (4) x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Obelisk of Naya x1 Ring of Three Wishes x1 Sol Ring Lands (36) x1 Boros Garrison x1 Clifftop Retreat x1 Command Tower x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Fire-Lit Thickett x1 Graypelt Refuge x1 Gruul Turf x1 Jungle Shrine x1 Kazandu Refuge x1 Naya Panorama x1 Opal Palace x1 Raging Ravine x1 Rootbound Crag x1 Rugged Prairie x1 Sacred Foundry x1 Selesnya Sanctuary x1 Stirring Wildwood x1 Stomping Ground x1 Sunpetal Grove x1 Temple Garden x1 Terramorphic Expanse x1 Wooded Bastion x6 Plains x3 Mountain x5 Forest

With the release of Theros, we have a lot more enchantments available to drop on creatures, including Enchantment Creatures.

First and foremost, we need cards like Uril included.

    

Since everything in the deck is based on enchantments, you have to include some really good ones.

    

And then we have protection for you:

  

So, an enchantment heavy deck is not a difficult Commander deck to make, especially when using Uril, the Miststalker.

Commander Mondays (11/25/2013): Doran, the Siege Tower

This has been a long time coming, but now I'm caught up on the Commander decks. Well, except for December's, but you'll have to wait for the enchantment extravaganza that is Uril, the Miststalker next week.

Legendary Creatures x1 Doran, the Siege Tower(Commander) x1 Nath of the Gilt-Leaf x1 Sapling of Colfenor x1 Verdeloth the Ancient x1 Yeva, Nature's Herald Creatures x1 Ambassador Oak x1 Argothian Treefolk x1 Battlewand Oak x1 Black Poplar Shaman x1 Blanchwood Treefolk x1 Bog-Strider Ash x1 Bosk Banneret x1 Canker Abomination x1 Cloudcrown Oak x1 Crabapple Cohort x1 Cradle Guard x1 Dauntless Dourbark x1 Deadwood Treefolk x1 Dungrove Elder x1 Ebony Treefolk x1 Everbark Shaman x1 Fendeep Summoner x1 Ghoultree x1 Heartwood Storyteller x1 Indomitable Ancients x1 Imperious Perfect x1 Ironroot Treefolk x1 Leaf-Crowned Elder x1 Lumberknot x1 Magnigoth Treefolk x1 Oakgnarl Warrior x1 Old Ghastbark x1 Orchard Warden x1 Seedcradle Witch x1 Seedguide Ash x1 Thorntooth Witch x1 Timber Protector x1 Treefolk Harbinger x1 Treefolk Seedlings x1 Unstoppable Ash x1 Weatherseed Treefolk x1 Wickerbough Elder x1 Woodfall Primus x1 Yavimaya Ancients x1 Yew Spirit

Instants x1 Reach of Branches x1 Rootgrapple Sorceries x1 Hunting Triad Enchantments x1 Lignify x1 Presence of Gond x1 Vow of Duty x1 Vow of Malice x1 Vow of Wildness

Artifacts x1 Accorder's Shield x1 Armillary Sphere x1 Crawlspace x1 Golgari Signet x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Orzhov Signet x1 Ring of Three Wishes x1 Selesnya Signet x1 Sol Ring Lands x1 Cavern of Souls x1 Command Tower x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Fetid Heath x1 Graypelt Refuge x1 Godless Shrine x1 Isolated Chapel x1 Murmuring Bosk x1 Opal Palace x1 Overgrown Tomb x1 Pine Barrens x1 Salt Flats x1 Stirring Wildwood x1 Sunpetal Grove x1 Temple Garden x1 Terramorphic Expanse x1 Twilight Mire x1 Wooded Bastion x1 Woodland Cemetery x2 Plains x3 Swamp x14 Forest

I had fun with this. Everything is a wall until Doran comes to town, but that is not a bad thing in the slightest way possible. Now, almost all of the Treefolk in Doran's colors are green, however there are a couple in black and in white.

       

Doran's ability is one of the main parts of this deck, that and a Treefolk and Shaman tribal aspect. Verdeloth the Ancient and Timber Protector are used for a boost for the Treefolk creatures. Most of the Treefolk in the deck have power and toughness, not just toughness like with Doran.

Pretty much this whole deck is the simple concept of your creatures dealing damage equal to their toughness, and there is some token aspects, but overall, it's all about the toughness.

Commander Mondays (11/18/2013): Progenitus

Well, here we go with yet another deck. This time, we have Progenitus Super Friends! This could be fun!

Legendary Creatures (3) x1 Progenitus (Commander) x1 Child of Alara x1 Ulasht, the Hate Seed Creatures (14) x1 Apocalypse Hydra x1 Clockwork Hydra x1 Feral Hydra x1 Hydra Omnivore x1 Kalonian Hydra x1 Khalni Hydra x1 Mistcutter Hydra x1 Molten Hydra x1 Phyrexian Hydra x1 Phytohydra x1 Primordial Hydra x1 Protean Hydra x1 Savageborn Hydra x1 Vastwood Hydra

Instants (3) x1 Bioshift x1 Far//Away x1 Ready//Willing Sorceries (1) x1 Armed//Dangerous Enchantments (4) x1 Aqueous Form x1 Genju of the Realm x1 Indestructibility x1 Intangible Virtue Planeswalkers (26) x1 Ajani Goldmane x1 Ajani Vengeant x1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride x1 Chandra Nalaar x1 Domri Rade x1 Elspeth Tirel x1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant x1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion x1 Garruk Relentless x1 Garruk Wildspeaker x1 Garruk, Primal Hunter x1 Gideon Jura x1 Jace Beleren x1 Jace, Architect of Thought x1 Jace, Memory Adept x1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor x1 Koth of the Hammer x1 Liliana Vess x1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker x1 Ral Zarek x1 Sarkhan Vol x1 Sorin Markov x1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad x1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage x1 Vraska the Unseen x1 Xenagos, the Reveler

Artifacts (11) x1 Batterskull x1 Chromatic Lantern x1 Crawlspace x1 Defense Grid x1 Elixir of Immortality x1 Gilded Lotus x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Ring of Three Wishes x1 Sol Ring x1 Sensei's Divining Top x1 Umezawa's Jitte Lands (38) x1 Blood Crypt x1 Breeding Pool x1 Cascade Bluffs x1 Cavern of Souls x1 Command Tower x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Exotic Orchard x1 Fetid Heath x1 Fire-Lit Thicket x1 Flooded Grove x1 Godless Shrine x1 Graven Cairns x1 Hallowed Fountain x1 Mystic Gate x1 Opal Palace x1 Overgrown Tomb x1 Rugged Prairie x1 Sacred Foundry x1 Steam Vents x1 Stomping Ground x1 Sunken Ruins x1 Temple Garden x1 Terramorphic Expanse x1 Twilight Mire x1 Watery Grave x1 Wooded Bastion x2 Plains x1 Island x1 Swamp x1 Mountain x7 Forest

So, in case you didn't know, a "Super Friends" deck is a deck that puts a lot of planeswalkers together.

I've put together a five color deck to maximize the number of planeswalkers available, and for that, I figured Progenitus would be a good commander, with Child of Alara as a secondary commander, and as another legendary creature, it's not a bad idea to drop in a legendary hydra that isn't Progenitus.

  

So for starters, all the creature cards in this deck are hydras, which is why Cavern of Souls is included. Now, hydras seem to only come in two main colors: red and green. There is Phytohydra which has white, but otherwise, just red and green, so the mana base reflects this (and there is really more green than red...)

          

Anyway, I'd like to say that the hydra bases are covered. We have dealing damage to multiple opponents with one strike, adding counters instead of damage, removing counters to deal damage, an artifact creature in the event of opponents having creatures with Intimidate, anyone able to put counters on a creature, all the way to Infect. The bases are mostly covered. But with all these creatures that have counters, Bioshift sounds great, so it's in here. Someone is about to destroy an attacking hydra with 8 counters? BOOM! Drop those counters onto another attacking hydra. Of course, Progenitus can't be touched and neither can Mistcutter, but with all these counters floating around, there HAS to be some way to use Bioshift.

Now, let's look at the Planeswalkers! These categories apply to why they were added, so their ultimate abilities typically don't count ultimate abilities, but I looked at what I could do the most with.

Tokens & Creatures

Tokens and creatures are a major thing that planeswalkers seem to dish out. You see them in White, Black, Red, and Green. So, Elspeth is great for tokens. All three versions give us tokens. Garruk Relentless/Garruk the Veil-Cursed, Garruk Wildspeaker, and Garruk, Primal Hunter produce tokens, and that's great. Gideon is a creature, essentially. Koth turns your lands into creatures. Sorin makes tokens and pumps creatures/tokens. Vraska, maybe we'll get to those assassins... and Xenagos gives Satyr tokens. All these tokens is why Intangible Virtue was added to the deck.

Mana Ramp

Mana ramp is any ability that allows you to obtain more mana in some way. Mana ramp comes in only three planeswalkers, and sure two of them deal with red, but it goes to the X cost... And Xenagos also does green. Garruk let's you untap two lands, which you could untap filter lands and tap them again producing 8 total mana from 4, which allows for a bigger creature being dropped.

Card Draw/Draw Control

This category applies to manipulating your top card (looking and moving, or searching, shuffling, and putting on top) or just plain drawing. Or both in one case... So, Domri shows you what your next card is if you don't get to grab a creature out of it, all of the Jaces involve either drawing cards, getting cards from piles created by opponents, or manipulating the card that's on the top of a library, Liliana has a second ability allowing you to search for a card and place it on top of your library, and Tamiyo lets you draw cards based on opponent's tapped creatures, (and can also allows you all the cards you want in your hand).

Creature Control & Creature/Permanent Manipulation

This is the category for tapping down creatures, untapping creatures. Manipulation involves counters or global effects for all your creatures, or just flat out controlling an opponent's creature. Ajani Goldmane puts counters on all creatures and gives them vigilance. Ajani Vengeant locks down permanents. Ajani, Caller of the Pride puts counters on creatures. Domri forces two creatures to fight. Elspeth, Knight-Errant gives creatures +3/+3 and flying. Garruk Relentless fights creatures while Garruk, the Veil-Cursed gives creatures a boost and trample. Gideon forces creatures to attack him. Jace, Architect of Thought gives opponent's creatures -1/-0. Nicol Bolas flat out steals creatures. Ral Zarek taps or untaps permanents. Sarkhan Vol gives creatures +1/+1 and haste for a turn or steals a creature for a turn. Tamiyo locks down permanents. Vraska destroys any creature that deals combat damage to her.

Destruction

And, our final category, anything that just flat out destroys stuff... We have Ajani Vengeant for his Lightning Helix ability. Chandra Nalaar for destroying creatures or dealing one damage to small creatures. Elspeth, Sun's Champion destroys all creatures with power 4 or greater, which will suck for our hydras, but that's not the main reason she's here; that's just in case. Gideon destroys tapped creatures, Nicol Bolas destorys non-creatures, Ral Zarek deals three damage which can destroy some creatures. Sorin Markov deals damage to creatures or players. Vraska destroys anything that attacks her or can destroy nonland permanents.

So, there you have it, a wide array of planeswalker abilities (some not mentioned), but the deck seems well rounded enough with abilities, and the mana exists that can produce all these colors. I even did math on how many mana symbols involved planeswalkers and creatures and worked accordingly with percentages, which is why there is one more Plains than Mountains.

Commander Mondays (11/11/2013): Edric, Spymaster of Trest

\NOTE: Yes, it's late. I know. Still trying to play catch up. I won't be doing 4 original EDH decks in one month again, because it's obvious I can't meet that sort of time table.

Hm... Blue, Green, and you get to draw cards as long as a creature deals damage to one of your opponents, you get to draw a card. So, this benefits your opponents in multiplayer matches too because they'll not want to attack you based on them getting to draw cards. Let's play on this a bit, because we could just sit back and have some fun with this...

Legendary Creatures x1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest (Commander) x1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking x1 Eladamri, Lord of Leaves x1 Experiment Kraj x1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionary x1 Nylea, God of the Hunt x1 Omnath, Locus of Mana x1 Thassa, God of the Sea Creatures x1 Aetherling x1 Arbor Elf x1 Baloth Woodcrasher x1 Civic Wayfinder x1 Copperhorn Scout x1 Deadeye Navigator x1 Drove of Elves x1 Elusive Krasis x1 Elvish Archdruid x1 Elvish Champion x1 Elvish Mystic x1 Elvish Piper x1 Elvish Visionary x1 Fyndhorn Elder x1 Fyndhorn Elves x1 Gaea's Herald x1 Gladecover Scout x1 Grazing Gladehart x1 Horizon Chimera x1 Invisible Stalker x1 Jhessian Infiltrator x1 Joraga Treespeaker x1 Joraga Warcaller x1 Llanowar Elves x1 Latch Seeker x1 Master Biomancer x1 Murkfiend Liege x1 Neurok Invisimancer x1 Nissa's Chosen x1 Overbeing of Myth x1 Quirion Elves x1 Roil Elemental x1 Silhana Ledgewalker x1 Spire Tracer x1 True-Name Nemesis x1 Windrider Eel

Instants x1 Bioshift x1 Cyclonic Rift Sorceries x1 Blessings of Nature x1 Give//Take Enchantments x1 Aqueous Form x1 Ordeal of Nylea x1 Ordeal of Thassa x1 Rancor x1 Rites of Flourishing x1 Vow of Flight x1 Vow of Wildness

Artifacts x1 Bow of Nylea x1 Inquisitor's Flail x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Simic Keyrune x1 Simic Signet x1 Sol Ring x1 Trepanation Blade Planeswalkers x1 Nissa Revane x1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage Lands x1 Breeding Pool x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Flooded Grove x1 Ghost Town x1 Hinterland Harbor x1 Misty Rainforest x1 Mutavault x1 Novijen, Heart of Progress x1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx x1 Simic Growth Chamber x1 Simic Guildgate x1 Temple of Mystery x1 Terramorphic Expanse x1 Vivid Creek x1 Vivid Grove x1 Yavimaya Coast x6 Island x14 Forest

This deck is really creature heavy, specifically when it comes to elves. Because Edric is an Elf, I figured we could do some green elf tribal. There is a lot more green than blue in this deck, so I reflected that in the land, and I added in both Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, and even Misty Rainforest in order to make sure that blue source is reached.

As far as elf tribal goes, we have several creating green mana, and elves that affect other elves. Due to the green mana sources, I added in Omnath, Locus of mana just so that the mana has something to do and isn't wasted having the ability to make about 20 green mana and having no purpose for it.

    

The blue in this deck is mainly for unblockable creatures allowing you to deal combat damage to opponents which will get the card draw from Edric's ability.

    

Commander Mondays (11/4/2013): Kaalia of the Vast

"Everyone knows I'm in over my head..." - The Fray, "Over My Head"

NOTE: I'm catching up! Two left before I can fully catch up, just haven't had time. I'm on break next week, so hopefully I'll have time to finish the Edric, Spymaster of Trest deck, and then do this week's deck, which I'm not going to say what it is. I will say that it does happen to involve five colors...\

Without further ado, here is the Kaalia of the Vast deck I developed...

Legendary Creatures x1 Kaalia of the Vast (Commander) x1 Oros the Avenger x1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls x1 Aurelia, the Warleader x1 Basandra, Battle Seraph x1 Bladewing the Risen x1 Gisela, Blade of Goldknight x1 Iona, Shield of Emeria x1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence x1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen Creatures x1 Admonition Angel x1 Akroma, Angel of Fury x1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath x1 Alabaster Dragon x1 Angel of Despair x1 Angel of Salvation x1 Angelic Skirmisher x1 Blinding Angel x1 Bogardan Hellkite x1 Carnifex Demon x1 Deathless Angel x1 Dega Disciple x1 Degavolver x1 Demon of Death's Gate x1 Desecration Demon x1 Divinity of Pride x1 Firemane Avenger x1 Flameblast Dragon x1 Furyborn Hellkite x1 Harvester of Souls x1 Hellkite Charger x1 Lord of the Void x1 Mana-Charged Dragon x1 Moonveil Dragon x1 Mother of Runes x1 Nobilis of War x1 Shattered Angel x1 Slumbering Dragon x1 Thundermaw Hellkite x1 Utvara Hellkite

Instants x1 Boros Charm x1 Executioner's Swing x1 Hero's Downfall x1 Lightning Bolt x1 Lightning Helix x1 Magma Jet x1 Profit // Loss x1 Wear // Tear Sorceries x1 Toil // Trouble Enchantments x1 Dark Favor x1 Dega Sanctuary x1 Deviant Glee x1 Divine Favor x1 Fervent Charge x1 Madcap Skills x1 True Conviction

Artifacts x1 Elbrus, the Binding Blade x1 Hammer of Purphorous x1 Lightning Greaves x1 Sol Ring x1 Spear of Heliod x1 Whip of Erebos Lands x1 Battlefield Forge x1 Blackcleave Cliffs x1 Blood Crypt x1 Boros Garrison x1 Cavern of Souls x1 Caves of Koilos x1 Clifftop Retreat x1 Command Tower x1 Dragonskull Summit x1 Evolving Wilds x1 Fetid Heath x1 Godless Shrine x1 Graven Cairns x1 Isolated Chapel x1 Lavaclaw Reaches x1 Orzhov Basilica x1 Opal Palace x1 Rakdos Carnarium x1 Rugged Prairie x1 Sacred Foundry x1 Sulfurous Springs x1 Temple of Silence x1 Temple of Triumph x5 Plains x5 Swamp x5 Mountain

So, with Kaalia, everything is pretty much self-explanatory. You cast her, you attack with her, and then you drop really powerful angels, demons, or dragons onto the field. I did go a little more to the Angels and Dragons side of it, but I didn't find many Demons that suited my purpose, especially since one of my favorites, Griselbrand, is banned in this format. Can't use one of the best. However, my second favorite, Desecration Demon, gets a nice spot in this deck.

So, I won't go into too much about the deck, because obviously it has Angels, Demons, and Dragons.

Dega Cycle from Apocalypse

    

It is insanely hard actually finding anything that can interact with all three of these colors. I mean, consider all of the shards for a second. Pick one of them. Any of them will do. How many things are available for use? There are more than three legendary creatures, you have the Panorama lands from Shards of Alara, you have the Tri-Lands from the same set, and then you have a new commander deck put together and sold this year that involve the shard colors again. What do we have for these colors? Cycles for the wedges and the 2011 Commander decks. Not much to go on, but let's use these cards anyway because they have a nice interaction with the colors.

Theros Enchantment Artifacts

    

Because. That's my reason. +1/+1, Haste, and Lifelink. Can't ask for more, and they have other cool abilities...

Elbrus, the Binding Blade

  

I actually took out Sarkhan the Made to put this in the deck. Not only do you get to have fun multiplayer shenanigans with Withengar Unbound, but he's a demon, not that he can actually be played for free with Kaalia, but he fits the deck's tribal element flavor. I regret nothing.

Star City Games Invitation Qualifier Deck

So, over the weekend, I went to my first non-FNM/Game Day/Prerelease MTG tournament, and it was an IQ at Star City Games in Roanoke, VA. First of all, I thought the inside of the largest MTG sellere would have been a bit different, but it was pretty much a bunch of tables, a couple counters with sleeves, deck boxes, and playmats, and then a giant warehouse in the back. You can buy anything there, but you direct clerks to what you want, and they order it from themselves on the website, and someone brings your order out to you once they've picked it up from the back.

Anyway, here is the deck (18th place of 36 players, by the way):

G/W Aggro (Green/White)

18th Place, Star City Games IQ: Roanoke, VA 26 October 2013

Creatures x4 Soldier of the Pantheon x4 Sylvan Caryatid x4 Fleecemane Lion x2 Fiendslayer Paladin x4 Loxodon Smiter x2 Boros Reckoner x1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice x1 Archangel of Thune x1 Kalonian Hydra x3 Mistcutter Hydra Land x4 Temple of Mystery x4 Temple Garden x2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx x7 Plains x1 Island x4 Forest	Other Spells x4 Aqueous Form x4 Unflinching Courage Planeswalkers x1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride x2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion x1 Garruk, Caller of the Beast
Sideboard x3 Imposing Sovereign x2 Fabled Hero x4 Fog x2 Savage Summoning x2 Scavenging Ooze x2 Pithing Needle

So, we have a bit of mana ramp involved here, with Sylvan Caryatid and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.

  

With all the Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall action, we want things to stick. Loxodon Smiter has to stay in our hand, and then Fiendslayer Paladin is protected from Black and Red. Fleecemane Lion also has assurance against spells once it is monstrous.

    

Other things are in there for the purpose of aggro, such as Boros Reckoner, Mistcutter Hydra, and Kalonian Hydra. We also have a lifegain suite involved with Archangel of Thune and Trostani. Soldier of the Pantheon is great for all the multicolored action going around now.

Our only spells in the main deck are Aqueous Form (unblockable plus Scry 1) and then Unflinching Courage (lifegain and trample). Both of these are important to the deck, as we can easily boost a creature, and in the case of Fleecemane Lion, have a hexproof, indestructible, 6/6 lifelink trample creature, not that trample matters if it is unblockable.

Planeswalkers were added for tokens, and Garruke was specifically to drop creatures on the field.

The sideboard has a good purpose. If opponents have too many creatures filled with haste, we want them tapped, so we use Imposing Sovereign, and Fog to stop damage. Fabled Hero is in there for extra damage if we need some more aggro in the deck. Savage Summoning is important too since opponents like countering things, and this will land a creature on their turn and they can't do anything to stop it. Scavenging Ooze is only there if we need a boost because we find our creatures die easily, or if our opponent does a lot of creature trading with us. The last piece to the sideboard is Pithing Needles, because Pithing Needle is important for stopping abilities of planeswalkers or other creatures.

  

The blue included in this deck (Temple of Mystery and the one Island) is only included for the Aqueous Form. I found Sylvan Caryatids frequently get axed by Supreme Verdict, so a little bit of blue (and scry) is nice.

Commander Mondays (10/28/2013): Geist of Saint Traft

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.