Jarad or not Jarad?

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Hyrkh
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Post by Hyrkh » 4 years ago

That is indeed my question, I've had my Jarad deck for years but lately I seem to play it less. This is mainly due the fact that it's one of my many combo decks and I want to cut down on my combo decks. My list is mostly based on razzliox's out dated primer, but winning with the deck is to liniar and so I'm looking to revamping/axing the deck to let is become a more toolboxy version of the deck. An obvious choice would be to pick Meren over Jarad but I have quite a few of those decks in my meta so I'd like to avoid here if possible.

My questions are:
- Who would you pick as a commander for a golgari graveyard deck?
- Which cards should I remove/replace to make the deck toolboxy?

Link to my list (slightly outdated afaik):
Jarad EDH

As always thanks in advance

Cheers!
Knowledge is Power!

Commander decks:
Meren - Prossh - Krenko - Damia - Riku - Wort - Edric
Nethroi - Kenrith - Roon - Jhoira - Marath - Selvala
Yidris - Talrand - Shu Yun - Kelsien - Grenzo (soonish)

Wife's Commander decks:
Kemba - Oloro - Kaalia - Rhys - Teysa

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Rorseph
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Post by Rorseph » 4 years ago

I, too, played a version of razzliox's Jarad deck for a while and you're right: it feels too linear when it wins. I ended up disassembling it, so I'm currently on the lookout for a new Golgari commander for a more toolbox-y strategy.

On the upside, a lot of those toolbox-y pieces are already in the Jarad deck; you just need to remove the more combo-y bits and replace them with other things. So, out come things like Phyrexian Devourer; Mikaeus, the Unhallowed; Triskelion; and Necrotic Ooze. In their place, I'd go with ETB value critters like Acidic Slime, Reclamation Sage, and Eternal Witness along with fun things like Corpse Dance and cheap/free sac outlets.

Now, as you said, the obvious commander in this case is Meren since she's such a huge value engine. This is the part where I'm currently stumped. I'm leaning towards Nath of the Gilt-Leaf or Savra, Queen of the Golgari in conjunction with repeatable discard or repeatable sac effects, respectively. I'm leaning slightly towards Savra because Grave Pact effects are simply more prevalent. In either case, I'd probably run Meren in the 99 because she's that good.

I'm really interested to see what others have to say on this.
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Serenade
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Post by Serenade » 4 years ago

Izoni is the lower-powered general that can play in the same area. Storrev is another angle.
Mirri, Cat Warrior counts as a Cat Warrior.

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Post by Dragonlover » 4 years ago

Storrev is cool, but a five power commander that has to attack to do the thing is tricky. Coming in for five commander damage sends a statement, y'know? Initially he was my morph commander but I ended up swapping because sometimes using him was just a bad idea all round.

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materpillar
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Post by materpillar » 4 years ago

Hyrkh wrote:
4 years ago
My list is mostly based on razzliox's out dated primer, but winning with the deck is too linear and so I'm looking to revamping/axing the deck to let is become a more toolboxy version of the deck. An obvious choice would be to pick Meren over Jarad but I have quite a few of those decks in my meta so I'd like to avoid here if possible.
Your deck has over 11 tutors, it's obviously going to play the same way every game. If your true goal is to be "less linear" that means your deck needs to become more random. If your deck is more random, it will be less powerful. Just to make you aware of what you're asking and why I'm about to list a lot of really good cards that make your deck more powerful but worse to play in your metagame.

Axe Survival of the Fittest, Eldritch Evolution, Dark Petition, Buried Alive, Entomb, Sidisi, Undead Viz, Protean Hulk, Rune-Scarred Demon, Hermit Druid, and Corpse Connoisseur and your deck will become drastically more variable (which also means significantly weaker).

Green Sun's Zenith and Crop Rotation are more of toolbox tutors and less of a consistently find the same card tutors. Jarad's Orders is flavor win so these tutors are all probably fine.

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RedCheese
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Post by RedCheese » 4 years ago

My Jarad is a dredge style type of decl. Fill the graveyard and hit with Giant Creatures. Its fun and non linear ebcause the self mill is random and so you need to adapt in what resourcers you will have to use. But its msotly fill graveyard and hit big.

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toctheyounger
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Post by toctheyounger » 4 years ago

Well, the obvious replacement is Meren of Clan Nel Toth. She's strong and can toolbox if you don't wanna combo. Personally, though, I think she's fairly boring to play.

As far as a fun toolbox commander in Golgari colours, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest Glissa, the Traitor. It's probably a bit of a departure from Jarad, but I've had nothing but tons of fun playing her at the helm. She's wide open for areas to build down which means she's less 'solved'. Sure you can do Mindslaver locks, but you don't have to.

My current build of hers is a Birthing Pod toolbox with a Salvaging Station eggs suite, and it works on hitting tempo early and outlasting everyone for value while taking the board apart. It's far from competitive or combo, but it is a lot of fun. Every time I've built her I've enjoyed playing her. So there's my vote, FWIW.
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Post by Mookie » 4 years ago

I feel obligated to throw out Tasigur, the Golden Fang, who is another option for a Golgari graveyard-based commander. (my own build is effectively splashing blue for Villainous Wealth) I won't say that he is the most toolbox-y by default though - getting back the cards your opponents want you to have means you won't always get back the right card. Could be interesting if you take a more diplomatic route though.

Other than that, Meren is probably the easiest to make a toolbox graveyard deck, due to her innate recursion abilities. Just swapping her into the command zone over Jarad will change the flow of the deck significantly - she doesn't provide a self-contained win condition like Jarad does, so you'll need to focus on a more attrition-based gameplan. If you don't want to completely rebuild the deck, I'd recommend making that change first and seeing how things feel.

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Hyrkh
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Post by Hyrkh » 4 years ago

Bit late to reply! But thanks for all your input, I've built Meren and she works like a charm!
Knowledge is Power!

Commander decks:
Meren - Prossh - Krenko - Damia - Riku - Wort - Edric
Nethroi - Kenrith - Roon - Jhoira - Marath - Selvala
Yidris - Talrand - Shu Yun - Kelsien - Grenzo (soonish)

Wife's Commander decks:
Kemba - Oloro - Kaalia - Rhys - Teysa

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