I love turning sideways, but it sucks as a strategy in a giant life, multiplayer vintage-lite format. I also love drawing cards, so any commander that gives me resources and cards for turning sideways is one I'm going to take a good long look at!
I held off on Derevi for a long time, due to his reputation for being overpowered and for his connections with stax. But recently I decided could could resist no longer and built a deck around him, using Derevi as an engine to reward me for getting in with evasive creatures in a way that isn't purely drawing cards.
Unsurprisingly, this quickly became one of my stronger decks. I play in a meta that is mostly tuned creature based decks or janky combat, and light on efficient combo and heavy control decks. We go deep on rule 0 and if there are combo or stax elements in a deck they are discussed beforehand and janked out somewhat to keep it bearable for the fairer decks.
Derevi Tempo
Approximate Total Cost:
I didn't bother listing my lands, I run all the relevant fetches and shocks that I can afford, using a few off-colour to replace the insanely pricey UG fetch.
Notable exclusions:
- Heroic Intervention, Selfless Spirit, Mausoleum Wanderer (haven't found for trade, will be getting eventually)
- Winter Orb (I don't like hard stax or locks that are easy to implement)
- cEDH stuff - Mana Drain, fast mana, original duals etc (Very expensive, but I also don't usually like playing these types of cards outside of dedicated cEDH decks)
- Combat Damage / Attack triggers, either built into evasive creatures or global
ie, Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Bident of Thassa, Verity Circle, Military Intelligence, Trygon Predator, Soltari Champion, Thada Adel, Acquisitor, Looter il-kor, Daxos of Meletis, Loyal Drake - Hatebears and Rattlesnakes with evasion for triggers
ie, Aven Mindcensor, Vryn Wingmare, Lieutenant Kirtar, Hanged Executioner, Glen Elendra Archmage, Hushbringer, Judge's Familiar, Remorseful Cleric - Flash cards, letting me hold up protection and then drop them on end step.
Restoration Angel, Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, Spell Queller, Spectral Sailor, Pestermite - Win-conditions, cards that turn a handful of evaders into a bigger threat.
True Conviction, Dictate of Heliod, Cathars' Crusade, Throne of the God-Pharaoh, - Keyword cards that tie into Odric, Lunarch Marshal, but are playable in their own right
Sword of Vengeance, Chariot of Victory, Oketra the True, God-Eternal Oketra, Mirran Crusader, Sephara, Sky's Blade - A few tutors, mostly for Odric, Lunarch Marshal
Eladamri's Call, Finale of Devastation, Wargate - Tap abilities as an outlet for Derevi triggers. This is probably the weakest area of the deck outside of Pride Sovereign, who has taken over a few games.
Captain Sisay, Thornwind Faeries, Arcanis the Omnipotent, Faeburrow Elder, Fauna Shaman, Mother of Runes, Pride Sovereign, Intrepid Hero - A light package of counterspells and indestructible help keep my board intact through wipes. Theres likely room for improvement here these are just the ones I found/that were cheap!
Arcane Denial, Supreme Will, Negate, Unbreakable Formation, Disdainful Stroke, Flusterstorm
I'm particularly keen on mana dumps, something I can put mana into if I have something crazy like a Fae-Burrow Elder or Gilded Lotus, ten untaps, and no instant speed cards to use. This situation has come up a number of times so anything that is a great instant speed mana dump is gonna get a look from me!
Thanks for any suggestions!
