Ideas for a bodyguard deck

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Ertai Planeswalker
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Post by Ertai Planeswalker » 2 years ago



I want to build a deck using these cards. I have them all, i used to play them in a Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant // Rune-Tail's Essence commander deck that I had a few years ago. It couldn't hold up in my meta because from the moment we started it was just 3 vs 1 as long as i was above 30 and even if i could stabilize a bit there was enough removal that they were always bounced/killed and then i was alpha striked (if neccesary by multiple opponents in succesion). However i keep feeling that these provide a unique effect that I never see played elsewhere so I want to use them again, but this time as part of a greater strategy in which they can still be a good part of the strategy but where the deck does not fall apart without them. However, I have no good idea how. So I'm looking for suggestions. Whether mono white or with different colors, what kind of shell would these fit in to?

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Treamayne
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Post by Treamayne » 2 years ago

My first thought would be a Boros combat tricks deck. Goad and other things that prompt attacks, some instants for messing up combat math, maybe even things like Fumiko the Lowblood if you really want more combat. I would probably recommend Tajic, Legion's Edge, but you could easily lean more toward combat with generals like Adriana, Captain of the Guard/Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, or more toward combat tricks with Generals like Velomachus Lorehold/Firesong and Sunspeaker/Feather, the Redeemed.
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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 2 years ago

I would be tempted to play this in Esper or Bant, and then play things like Darksteel Plate, Shielded by Faith or Indestructibility on your bodyguard. If you can, this might be an interesting Monarch-themed deck where you make yourself monarch and then pillow-fort/advantage your way to victory via Courts (like Court of Grace or other Monarch cards.

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Dunharrow
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Post by Dunharrow » 2 years ago

I like these with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zedruu the Greathearted. Clone your guy, donate to an opponent. Repeat. Eventually people will be stalled. Then, I don't know.
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Treamayne
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Post by Treamayne » 2 years ago

C'mon, play like it's 2009. . .
Dunharrow wrote:
2 years ago
I like these with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zedruu the Greathearted. Clone your guy, donate to an opponent. Repeat. Eventually people will be stalled. Then, I don't know Insurrection .
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ISBPathfinder
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Post by ISBPathfinder » 2 years ago

Well, three of them are human and two giant so I could see possibly leaning into a tribal concept for either one granted.... giant tribal is a bit slim.

Sigarda, Champion of Light - Card advantage with incentive to run humans.
Winota, Joiner of Forces - Card advantage with incentive to run humans.
Bruna, the Fading Light - Human / Angel reanimator and the upside that she can block and defend a number of them making it harder to crack your defenses.
Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - Its not actually giant tribal but these creatures trigger experience and there are a few tribal giants you could run in this concept.

Something a little bit of a stretch / different idea but Commander Eesha / Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts could make use of Pariah / Pariah's Shield / Saving Grace / Blaze of Glory / Valor Made Real. Its not quite in the same vein but I felt it was a close concept to what we were talking about.
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Ertai Planeswalker
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Post by Ertai Planeswalker » 2 years ago

Sinis wrote:
2 years ago
I would be tempted to play this in Esper or Bant, and then play things like Darksteel Plate, Shielded by Faith or Indestructibility on your bodyguard. If you can, this might be an interesting Monarch-themed deck where you make yourself monarch and then pillow-fort/advantage your way to victory via Courts (like Court of Grace or other Monarch cards.
Most of the cards you mention are mono white. Why Bant or Esper specifically?
ISBPathfinder wrote:
2 years ago
Well, three of them are human and two giant so I could see possibly leaning into a tribal concept for either one granted.... giant tribal is a bit slim.

Sigarda, Champion of Light - Card advantage with incentive to run humans.
Winota, Joiner of Forces - Card advantage with incentive to run humans.
Bruna, the Fading Light - Human / Angel reanimator and the upside that she can block and defend a number of them making it harder to crack your defenses.
Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - Its not actually giant tribal but these creatures trigger experience and there are a few tribal giants you could run in this concept.

Something a little bit of a stretch / different idea but Commander Eesha / Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts could make use of Pariah / Pariah's Shield / Saving Grace / Blaze of Glory / Valor Made Real. Its not quite in the same vein but I felt it was a close concept to what we were talking about.
CA on the commander is always good. Not sure a human/giant tribal mashup would work, but the new Sigarda does seem like she could be worth it. The other effects you mentioned would probably be included as well. At some point i was also wondering going Boros and using a Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer shell with earthquake effects.

Thanks for the tips though, i'll keep brewing.

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Post by ISBPathfinder » 2 years ago

Ertai Planeswalker wrote:
2 years ago
CA on the commander is always good. Not sure a human/giant tribal mashup would work, but the new Sigarda does seem like she could be worth it. The other effects you mentioned would probably be included as well. At some point i was also wondering going Boros and using a Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer shell with earthquake effects.

Thanks for the tips though, i'll keep brewing.
Repercussion would be spicy in something like that.
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Post by Cyberium » 2 years ago

I vote Daghatar the Adamant. His ability manipulates the field and can protect even your teammate/ally, while being a Abzan human provides a good amount of ability sharing that unites the purpose.

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 2 years ago

Ertai Planeswalker wrote:
2 years ago
Sinis wrote:
2 years ago
I would be tempted to play this in Esper or Bant, and then play things like Darksteel Plate, Shielded by Faith or Indestructibility on your bodyguard. If you can, this might be an interesting Monarch-themed deck where you make yourself monarch and then pillow-fort/advantage your way to victory via Courts (like Court of Grace or other Monarch cards.
Most of the cards you mention are mono white. Why Bant or Esper specifically?
This is one of white's wheelhouses, and thankfully it hasn't been usurped by other colours: Preventing or moving damage around. Few of these cards are duplicated in other colours. I think blue will probably be necessary to prevent your bodyguards from simply dying to removal. It would be terrible to set up this kind of pillowfort and then for someone to just leverage 1-2 mana removal to break your sand-castle.

I guess, for Bant, there's also a bodyguard we haven't listed: Empyrial Archangel. Shroud makes it hard to abuse with most of the auras/equipment I mentioned, but it's got a big-ish butt.

For Esper, I think there are clutch monarch cards available, specifically Feast of Succession (which all the bodyguards survive).

A reason to play 3-colour in general is to have access to more monarch cards, in general.

That said, I think I mentioned Esper and Bant specifically because green and black are powerful colours. Green lets you ramp into these bodyguards (and realistically, green just does everything), and I believe they (and Monarch cards) are the most relevant at the beginning of the game, and black lets you tutor for these pieces to make all this work.

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Post by weltkrieg » 2 years ago

I think Sinis is correct in that you want monarch for this kind of effect. However, I disagree with the choice of colors. Preventing them from dying is one thing, but resurrecting them is even better. Additionally, many have suggested boros to force combat. While I don't disagree with this idea, the single best card for this effect is Kardur, Doomscourge . Combine that with white's blink effects (something you'll want to run to protect your body guard anyway) and it becomes extremely difficult for opponents to deal with you via combat.

Fortunately, there is already a commander available which is best for this deck in all shapes and forms (in my opinion). It just has to be Queen Marchesa . She gives you monarch in the command zone, and she's a commander that the body guards can protect. In my opinion, there is no commander better for such a theme deck

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Sinis
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Post by Sinis » 2 years ago

weltkrieg wrote:
2 years ago
Fortunately, there is already a commander available which is best for this deck in all shapes and forms (in my opinion). It just has to be Queen Marchesa . She gives you monarch in the command zone, and she's a commander that the body guards can protect. In my opinion, there is no commander better for such a theme deck
This is totally a line of deckbuilding one could take.

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Ertai Planeswalker
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Post by Ertai Planeswalker » 2 years ago

weltkrieg wrote:
2 years ago
Fortunately, there is already a commander available which is best for this deck in all shapes and forms (in my opinion). It just has to be Queen Marchesa . She gives you monarch in the command zone, and she's a commander that the body guards can protect. In my opinion, there is no commander better for such a theme deck
This is a home run. I will brew this. Might take me a while because life is kind of busy at the moment but I will share the decklist once it's done.

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Post by hyalopterouslemur » 2 years ago

Inviolability is awesome.
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