[Helpwanted] Building an Astarion deck for my sister

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Guardman
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Post by Guardman » 1 month ago



So my sister really loves Astarion, the Decadent from Baldur's Gate and has a few friends that play magic, so being the good big brother I am, decided to build her an Astarion, the Decadent commander deck. I figured the best way to go about it is to make a vampire/lifegain deck using the Blood Rites Ixalan Deck as its base.

She hasn't really played magic before, so I am looking for suggestions to improve the deck/make it more beginner friendly based on the following criteria before I go about getting everything:

1. It is on theme (i.e. Lifegain & Vampires)
2. It is simple/easy to play and doesn't have much if any keyword baggage (unless it is specifically written out on the card).
3. Budget - I do have extras of a lot of cards, so I don't mind giving her those if I have them, but I do want to keep the costs down.
4. It is fun, but also can win games.
Blood Rites Precon

Planeswalkers

Approximate Total Cost:


Thanks in advance for the help.

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Ruiner
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Post by Ruiner » 1 month ago

Not sure where these land in your budget/already owned spare copies but I'd recommend:

Exsanguinate
Debt to the Deathless
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Tainted Sigil
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Vizkopa Guildmage

These all are relatively straightforward cards and have easy to grasp synergies with the commander.

My Liesa deck (in my signature) plays off of some lifegain/lifeloss shenanigans if you need a little more inspiration on that angle.

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Hawk
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Post by Hawk » 1 month ago

The first place I'd take a gander is that mana base. You did a good job avoiding Silent Clearing and Caves of Koilos (which tend to infuriate new players), but I think you've still got simultaneously too few lands (this is a new player deck with a commander that costs 6) and too many lands that EtB tapped or have some other sort of drawback that's going to make your sister's life harder. I'd go up to 39 lands, and cut lands that are likely to be "traps" a new player will misplay (Myriad Landscape, Voldaren Estate, Windbrisk Heights, Orzhov Basilica, Temple of the False God) for basics if you can't afford/don't want to fork out for Shocks, Isolated Chapel, etc.

I'd also try to lower the curve of this deck a bit - Astarion is already a six drop, so I'd try to run an absolute bare minimum of other 6+ drops to keep the deck running smoothly.

I'll also call out Adventure cards and double-faced cards tend to be really confusing for new players in my experience. I'd drop them out of this list, even the really good ones.

If you can swing the budget, I'd give her a few more combos and even infinite combos. You've got Exquisite Blood; might as well let her discover the joy of that + Sanguine Bond. And I'd lean harder into aristocrats if you can with stuff like Skullclamp, Dictate of Erebos, and maybe a few more token makers an sac outlets. I love aristocrats for a new but clever gamer player, since it works if they don't "do the thing" (it feels like they can punish people for attacking them), and works even better once they realize the sheer power of the dark side of saccing their whole board to Viscera Seer for fun and profit.

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Post by Guardman » 1 month ago

yeti1069 wrote:
1 month ago

Temporal Extortion
That's probably not a bad idea. I have a bunch of old Planar Chaos cards lying around, so I will have to see if I have a copy.
Ruiner wrote:
1 month ago
Not sure where these land in your budget/already owned spare copies but I'd recommend:

Exsanguinate
Debt to the Deathless
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Tainted Sigil
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Vizkopa Guildmage

These all are relatively straightforward cards and have easy to grasp synergies with the commander.

My Liesa deck (in my signature) plays off of some lifegain/lifeloss shenanigans if you need a little more inspiration on that angle.
Those are good suggestions. I might have an extra copy of Exsanguinate lying around. And honestly, I should probably just splurge a bit to get her a copy of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose (or maybe see if I can get one in trade). Vizkopa Guildmage also makes too much sense since it is a two drop, even if it isn't a vampire. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is neat, but its something I will need to see if fits in the curve (and how much black pips the deck has) since it isn't a vampire.
Hawk wrote:
1 month ago
The first place I'd take a gander is that mana base. You did a good job avoiding Silent Clearing and Caves of Koilos (which tend to infuriate new players), but I think you've still got simultaneously too few lands (this is a new player deck with a commander that costs 6) and too many lands that EtB tapped or have some other sort of drawback that's going to make your sister's life harder. I'd go up to 39 lands, and cut lands that are likely to be "traps" a new player will misplay (Myriad Landscape, Voldaren Estate, Windbrisk Heights, Orzhov Basilica, Temple of the False God) for basics if you can't afford/don't want to fork out for Shocks, Isolated Chapel, etc.

I'd also try to lower the curve of this deck a bit - Astarion is already a six drop, so I'd try to run an absolute bare minimum of other 6+ drops to keep the deck running smoothly.

I'll also call out Adventure cards and double-faced cards tend to be really confusing for new players in my experience. I'd drop them out of this list, even the really good ones.

If you can swing the budget, I'd give her a few more combos and even infinite combos. You've got Exquisite Blood; might as well let her discover the joy of that + Sanguine Bond. And I'd lean harder into aristocrats if you can with stuff like Skullclamp, Dictate of Erebos, and maybe a few more token makers an sac outlets. I love aristocrats for a new but clever gamer player, since it works if they don't "do the thing" (it feels like they can punish people for attacking them), and works even better once they realize the sheer power of the dark side of saccing their whole board to Viscera Seer for fun and profit.
The decklist above is just the precon itself, no changes. I haven't really had time to get into it since I posted, so no changes have been made right now.

I do want to throw in Caves of Koilos, one because she needs to learn that life is a resource, especially in a lifegain deck. And two, I might be a "good" big brother, but I am still her big brother. Same reason I told her to watch Twister when she asked me what a tornado was when she was like six.

A couple of cuts I already know I want to make are like you said the adventure cards and I am also staying away from Transform cards as well. I think Skullclamp is a good idea for the deck (and I think I might have an extra copy running around), but I am not sure how much true aristocrats I want in the deck, since I really want to make the focus of the deck Astarion, the Decadent. Also, I really want to cut Bartolomé del Presidio.


Below is a very rough list of cards I am looking to take out and/or in so far (numbers don't match as I am just throwing stuff out).




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Ruiner
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Post by Ruiner » 1 month ago

Oh! One other card I should have suggested previously is Axis of Mortality. It's all about life gain/life loss and combos great with that commander. You'll just have to explain ahead of time that the "exchange" does count as losing or gaining the appropriate amount, so the potential is clear if it ends up in play (this may not be 100% clear to a beginner).

It's not a must play, but it can be fun.

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Post by Hawk » 1 month ago

Guardman wrote:
1 month ago
Hawk wrote:
1 month ago
The first place I'd take a gander is that mana base. You did a good job avoiding Silent Clearing and Caves of Koilos (which tend to infuriate new players), but I think you've still got simultaneously too few lands (this is a new player deck with a commander that costs 6) and too many lands that EtB tapped or have some other sort of drawback that's going to make your sister's life harder. I'd go up to 39 lands, and cut lands that are likely to be "traps" a new player will misplay (Myriad Landscape, Voldaren Estate, Windbrisk Heights, Orzhov Basilica, Temple of the False God) for basics if you can't afford/don't want to fork out for Shocks, Isolated Chapel, etc.

I'd also try to lower the curve of this deck a bit - Astarion is already a six drop, so I'd try to run an absolute bare minimum of other 6+ drops to keep the deck running smoothly.

I'll also call out Adventure cards and double-faced cards tend to be really confusing for new players in my experience. I'd drop them out of this list, even the really good ones.

If you can swing the budget, I'd give her a few more combos and even infinite combos. You've got Exquisite Blood; might as well let her discover the joy of that + Sanguine Bond. And I'd lean harder into aristocrats if you can with stuff like Skullclamp, Dictate of Erebos, and maybe a few more token makers an sac outlets. I love aristocrats for a new but clever gamer player, since it works if they don't "do the thing" (it feels like they can punish people for attacking them), and works even better once they realize the sheer power of the dark side of saccing their whole board to Viscera Seer for fun and profit.
The decklist above is just the precon itself, no changes. I haven't really had time to get into it since I posted, so no changes have been made right now.

I do want to throw in Caves of Koilos, one because she needs to learn that life is a resource, especially in a lifegain deck. And two, I might be a "good" big brother, but I am still her big brother. Same reason I told her to watch Twister when she asked me what a tornado was when she was like six.

A couple of cuts I already know I want to make are like you said the adventure cards and I am also staying away from Transform cards as well. I think Skullclamp is a good idea for the deck (and I think I might have an extra copy running around), but I am not sure how much true aristocrats I want in the deck, since I really want to make the focus of the deck Astarion, the Decadent. Also, I really want to cut Bartolomé del Presidio.


Below is a very rough list of cards I am looking to take out and/or in so far (numbers don't match as I am just throwing stuff out).



Derp, sorry man - was so excited to talk everyone's favorite hotboi Vampire Rogue and help new players I missed that is just the stock LCI Vamps list.

I like almost all those adds. I will say I've found The Gaffer a bit slow in Samwise (admittedly more of a token/grindy deck than a lifegain deck), which means I think Markov Purifier will probably be unforgivably slow even though his typing is better for the deck. I also stand by my six-drop comment, and while I think most of your six drop adds are good I am not sure I'm convinced Rodolf Duskbringer is worth it.

If you need more cuts, I'm not sure Clavileño, First of the Blessed is worth it here anymore? I'm mostly down on him for his complexity - he's a strong card, for sure, he just feels pretty fiddly for a deck that just wants to gain life and jam Astarion. I think especially if you want to move away from an Aristocrats build, he gets worse and worse.

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Post by EonAon » 1 month ago

my suggestions
I would suggest keeping Carmen if the meta and or other people play treasure in your area since that triggers the +1. Clifhaven isn't bad but unless you run ALOT more passive lifegain its not really that good. Gaffer is one of those it can work but consistency is going to be odd.

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Post by Guardman » 1 month ago

Hawk wrote:
1 month ago

Derp, sorry man - was so excited to talk everyone's favorite hotboi Vampire Rogue and help new players I missed that is just the stock LCI Vamps list.

I like almost all those adds. I will say I've found The Gaffer a bit slow in Samwise (admittedly more of a token/grindy deck than a lifegain deck), which means I think Markov Purifier will probably be unforgivably slow even though his typing is better for the deck. I also stand by my six-drop comment, and while I think most of your six drop adds are good I am not sure I'm convinced Rodolf Duskbringer is worth it.

If you need more cuts, I'm not sure Clavileño, First of the Blessed is worth it here anymore? I'm mostly down on him for his complexity - he's a strong card, for sure, he just feels pretty fiddly for a deck that just wants to gain life and jam Astarion. I think especially if you want to move away from an Aristocrats build, he gets worse and worse.
No problem. Markov Purifier is probably too slow (and Rodolf expensive price was and mana wise), but I do think the deck has enough lifegain that The Gaffer can come down and draw a card on the turn it enters pretty consistently.
EonAon wrote:
1 month ago
my suggestions
I would suggest keeping Carmen if the meta and or other people play treasure in your area since that triggers the +1. Clifhaven isn't bad but unless you run ALOT more passive lifegain its not really that good. Gaffer is one of those it can work but consistency is going to be odd.
While I like a lot your suggestions, a lot of them fall in to two problems in that they are either too expensive pricewise (and I don't own an extra copy) or are probably too complex for a new player (i.e. Drana and Linvala and all the two sided cards).


See below for an updated list on planned inclusions and exclusions.






Astarion Vampire Lifegain

Commander

Planeswalkers 1

Approximate Total Cost:


Here is an updated version of the deck. Still need to make 6 cuts, so interested in suggestions. One that I am seriously thinking about is possibly Farewell seeing as the deck has Damn which is cheaper, Olivia's Wrath which is one sided, and Austere Command which has added flexibility of possibly missing most of her creatures.

The deck does have a nice low average mana value of 3 and a high, mostly vampire, creature count, both of which I like.

Also what do people think of Concealed Courtyard? It's cheap enough to throw in, but I wonder if it would be a little too confusing given the awkward enters the battlefield untapped condition.

Finally, I thought I would throw in a couple cheap cards into the cards I didn't use that can be secondary commanders if she wants to change them out. I was thinking of Liesa, Shroud of Dusk, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, and Felisa, Fang of Silverquill, since they are all cheap, relatively simple, are characters my sister would like, and are on-theme (mostly, Felisa is a vampire and that is about it, but 😋) and would change how the deck plays without changing the deck. Would be interested in any other suggestions.

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Post by Guardman » 1 month ago

So two cards I stumbled upon that looked interesting was Crisis of Conscience and Everything Comes to Dust. Crisis of Conscience is probably better in a pure token deck, but Everything Comes to Dust is an interesting one sided wraith for a tribal deck. And its cheap enough to include. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it or how it plays.

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Post by Guardman » 2 days ago

Here is the final version (mostly, I can't remember what the last card is, but I do know there are exactly 100 cards in the deck). Hoping to get a test or two in before giving it to her for her birthday.


Astarion Vampire Lifegain

Commander

Approximate Total Cost:


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